Friday, August 9th. San Diego, CA
Parma MSI ended the season this afternoon with a loss, 6-3, to Taylor (WA) in
the quarterfinals of the USABF tournament. Once again the pitching did a good
job with Lance Trester on the mound but the hitting never got going being one
for 11 with runners in scoring position with 10 men left on base. Trester
struck out eight over 6.2 innings while walking three, all in the seventh
inning. Shawn Nottingham came on in relief to record the final out of the
inning after two runs had scored.The Ohioans had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the first when they got two walks but the inning ended with the runners on second and third. Taylor took a 2-0 lead in the second before Parma got close with Scott Billak's home run to left field in the bottom of the inning. Taylor got the run back in the third to make it 3-1. Once again Parma came back with a fifth inning run on a walk to Tim Begley and a single by Drew Saylor. Then a wild pitch scored Begley for a 3-2 score. But Taylor got the run back again with a solo home run in the top of the sixth. At 4-2, Parma still was within reach but the top of the seventh saw a walk, a single and another walk to load the bases. An infield hit drove in one run and then Trester issued another walk to force in a run. In the bottom of the seventh, it looked like Parma would rally with Drew Saylor's lead-off home run but the hitters couldn't get it going.
This concludes another successful season for Parma MSI. The team will have one more day in San Diego before flying back to Cleveland on Sunday.
Thursday, August 8th. San Diego, CA Parma MSI has been seeded #3 (of 12) for the final round of the USABF
tournament. They will play on Friday at 5:15 p.m. at Mar Vista against the
winner of the Taylor (WA) / ABD (CA) Bulldogs game. The semi-finals and final
game are on Saturday.
Thursday, August 8th. San Diego, CA Parma MSI used timely hitting and clutch pitching to advance to the
quaterfinals of the USABF National Championships on Thursday at Patrick Henry
High by knocking off the defending national champion Colton (CA) Nighthawks,
6-5. That marks the second win in the past five days over Colton for
MSI.Parma used a big six-run third inning to take control of the contest and then hang on to edge the Nighthawks. Parma found itself down a run after two frames before they went to work in the third by captializing on an infield error to get the ball rolling. After Ben Copeland reached on the miscue, Tim Begley singled. After an infield out moved the runners to second and third, Matt Jackson doubled them both home. Lance Trester then singled Jackson to third and Trester moved up on a wild pitch. Scott Billak walked to load the bases. Shane Darnofall drove Jackson across the plate with a single and kept them loaded. Chad Campbell then singled to left to score Trester. Jon Cahill hit a chopper to shortstop and beat the relay throw with good hustle to score Billak and prolong the inning. Another infield error plated the final tally and it proved to be the game-winner.
Shane Darnofall led the offensive charge with two hits, while Matt Jackson drove in a pair. Seven Parma batters collected at least one hit each. Meanwhile, Dave Welch was tossing a complete game and befuddling most of the Colton sticks until the sixth when they closed the gap from four runs (6-2) to one on a three-run homer to right center by Sanchez. Welchy buckled down after that and got the final out of the game by snaring a line drive to the mound. Dave allowed five runs on seven hits. He walked two and struck out five in going to distance for his twelfth win in fourteen decisions.
Parma advances on to quarterfinals tomorrow against an opponent to be announced. Game time is unknown at this time.
Wednesday, August 7th. San Diego, CA For the second consecutive day, Parma came away with a 7-0 victory in
the USABF tournament. Today's victim was #18 seeded Natomas of California. The
game was called in the fifth inning due to the seven run rule. The win goes to
Cameron Betourne (6-2, 2.57 ERA) who pitched a four-hitter with four strikeouts
and three walks in the five innings. This was the fourth consecutive game where Parma has scored in the first inning. Ben Copeland led off with a double, but was forced out at third base on Scott Billak's bunt. After one out, Matt Jackson clubbed the ball over the left fielder's head for an RBI-double scoring Billak for a 1-0 lead. The ball should have been a home run in most parks but even Barry Bonds couldn't hit one with the deep fences at this field.
The Ohioans made it 2-0 with another run in the second. Dave Waters was hit by a pitch to start the inning and after two outs, Ben Copeland slapped a ground ball up the middle scoring Waters from second base. Parma broke the game open with a four-run fourth inning after a pitching change from Natomas to start the inning. Drew Saylor tripled over the leftfielder's head, for what should have been another home run but Drew legged it out for a three-bagger. Jackson then drove the ball into right centerfield for his second double and RBI scoring Saylor. The next batter, Lance Trester, singled bringing in the second run of the inning from second base. Two wild pitches later Trester was standing on third base. After one out, Shawn Nottingham walked. Jon Cahill then hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield scoring Trester, and Dan Victor next drove-in Nottingham with a double to right centerfield.and Parma had a 6-0 lead.
The last run came in the fourth inning when Saylor and Jackson both walked. Trester singled to load the bases and Nottingham walked to force in a run. After a strikeout, the inning ended with a double play ball.
At this stage of the tournament, pitching can be a problem but Parma has been getting good performance's from the starters and with some timely hitting and solid defense should continue to move forward in the tournament.
The next game will be Thursday morning, at 10 a.m. (PDT) at Patrick Henry High School. The opponent is yet to be determined but will most likely be the Colton Nighthawks with Dave Welch on the mound.
Tuesday, August 6th. San Diego, CA Today started the double elimination portion of the tournament and
Parma came away with a 7-0 win over #23 seeded Blue Ribbon of Arizona. The game
was shortened to six innings with the seven-run rule when the Ohioans scored
four runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game away. Chad Campbell went the distance in recording the two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts and four walks. He had a no-hitter going for 4.1 innings before giving up a single, and a double in the sixth was the only other hit. The defense helped his cause with two double plays.
Parma once again jumped out to an early lead with two first-inning runs. Ben Copeland led off with a single. After one out, Drew Saylor doubled to put runners on second and third. Matt Jackson drove home one run with a single and Lance Trester's RBI-sacrifice fly made it 2-0. The team added another run in the fourth inning when Trester led off with a two-bagger and Scott Billak followed with another double for Parma's 3-0 lead. The offense finally got going in the sixth with five hits. A two out rally was started with Jon Cahill's single. Jim Colestro followed with another single. Then Copeland and Tim Begley followed with RBI-singles, and after a pitching change and a walk to load the bases, Jackson hit a single to left field driving in two runs. The umpires then called the game with a 7-0 lead for Parma.
Tomorrow, the team will play at 8 a.m. (PDT) against #18 seed Natomas (CA) who upset #13 seed Prospects (CA). The game will again be at Patrick Henry High School.
Monday, August 5th. San Diego, CA The
seedings came out this evening for the next round of the USABF tournament.
Parma MSI has been seeded 8th and will play at 5 p.m. (PDT) on Tuesday against
Blue Ribbon of Arizona at Patrick Henry High School.
Sunday, August 4th. San Diego, CA The
team got back on the winning track this afternoon with a come-from-behind win,
8-6, against Baseball Factory South. In a rather bizarre finish, Parma scored
five times in the sixth inning on only one hit to take the lead after their
opponent had scored four runs in the fifth to break a 2-2 tie. Parma jumped out to an early lead in the first when Ben Copeland singled and Tim Begley hit his fourth home run over the right field fence to make it 2-0. Baseball South came back to tie it in the bottom of the inning with two runs. It stayed that way until the fifth when Parma pitcher Vaughn Norbert, who replaced starter Dan Victor in the fourth, gave up four singles accounting for two runs and then was replaced by Joe Fratarcangelo who gave up a single scoring two more runs to put Parma in the hole, 6-2. It didn't look good for the Ohioans who were once again not hitting the ball. But they caught a few breaks in the sixth inning in what can best be described as Baseball South doing everything wrong and Parma taking advantage of it.
The inning began with Drew Saylor being hit by a pitch. After a pitching change, Matt Jackson was also hit by a pitch. With one out, Shawn Nottingham walked to load the bases. A foul fly ball provided the second out and things were looking bleak once again for Parma. Jon Cahill came to the plate and blooped a single to centerfield for two runs. On the throw home, the runners advanced to second and third on a bad throw. The tying run was now on second base. Up to the plate stepped Chad Campbell who struck out swinging but the ball got by the catcher and Campbell ended up on first base while another run scored and the tying run was on third base. Campbell then stole second base and the go-ahead run was now on second. The pitcher then threw another wild pitch and the tying run scored with the go-ahead run on third. Then the pitch balked and the go-ahead run scored to make it 7-6 in favor of MSI. Parma added an insurance run in the seventh when Saylor walked, was wild pitched to second and scored on Lance Trester single.
Baseball South threatened in the sixth inning but Fratarcangelo was replaced on the mound by Dave Welch and the Australian Ace finished off the sixth and seventh innings by striking out three of the four batters he faced to earn a save and preserve the victory for Fratarcangelo.
Parma finished the round robin portion of the tournament with a 5-1 record. Monday is an off day and the double elimination round based on seedings will begin on Tuesday. The game schedule will be posted as soon as it becomes available on Monday night.
Sunday, August 4th. San Diego, CA The
winning streak (eight overall, four in San Diego) came to an abrupt halt this
morning when Parma MSI fell to the Riverside(CA) Royals, 5-2, at Montgomery
H.S. in Imperial Beach. After performing well for the past four games, mental
errors and lack of hitting crept into play during this one. Matt McKinnon went
the distance on the mound but gave up six walks and only two strikeouts to go
along with nine hits and five runs (three earned). Parma took the lead in the third inning on Ben Copeland's rightfield home run but that seemed to set the tone as everyone else was trying to hit the ball out in a field not prone to home runs. Riverside took the lead for good in the fourth inning with two runs on three consecutive hits and a sacrifice fly. They increased the lead with another run in the fifth on a single, a sacrifice bunt and an RBI-single to make it 3-1. A fielding error and a mental mistake led to two more unearned runs in the sixth as Parma sunk farther behind, 5-1.
The Ohioans did stage a rally in the bottom of the seventh but played themselves out of it. Pinch hitter Tim Begley walked to lead off, went to second on Copeland's single. Both runners advanced on a ground out and then Drew Saylor's sacrifice fly brought in Parma's second run. The second runner was tagged out going from second to third on Saylor's fly ball for the final out of the game.
Next up is a 4:45 p.m (PDT) game today at Hickman Field against Baseball Factory South.
Saturday, August 3rd. San Diego, CA
 |
| The team is on a streak since Thommo & Welchy have displayed the Aussie flag. |
In the opener today, the Ohioans jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when lead-off batter Ben Copeland singled, went to second and third base on a stolen base and error. He scored on Matt Jackson's RBI-single. The lead remained until the third inning when Herrera gave up a solo home run to tie the score, 1-1. Parma fell behind in the fourth when Herrera gave up another solo home run for a 2-1 score.
But the team came back with a four run burst in their fourth when Jackson doubled and Dave Waters singled him home. Scott Billak then bunted for a single and Chad Campbell clobbered the ball to centerfield for a three-run home run bringing the score to 5-2. San Luis came back with a run in the fifth to make it, 5-3 but Parma scored three more in their fifth when Drew Saylor and Jackson singled followed by Waters' powerful blast over the right field fence for a three-run homer. Herrera went into the seventh inning with an 8-3 lead but gave up a two-run home run before being replaced by Chad Campbell to get the final out of the game.
The second game against the defending tournament champion Nighthawks was the best played game of the tournament so far with Parma once against scoring first when the first batter of the game, Ben Copeland, tripled to the left field corner and then came home with a grounder by Drew Saylor to the right side of the infield. The score went to 3-0 in the third inning when Copeland got on base with a strikeout but the catcher dropped the ball and then threw it past the first baseman for a two-base error. Ben ended up on third base. Two batters later, Saylor tripled to centerfield scoring Copeland. Saylor then scored on Jackson's ground out.
Meanwhile, Lance Trester was keeping Colton off the base path only giving up three hits with one walk and four strikeouts. The plan was to split the pitching duty in this game and Shawn Nottingham came on in the fifth. He pitched well but ran into trouble in the seventh when he gave up Colton's only run on three hits. The tying run was on second base when Nottingham struck out the last batter to end the game.
Saturday, August 3rd. San Diego, CA
Parma MSI continued in a positive way with two more wins today in the USABF
tournament. The first game at El Capitan High School against the San Luis (CA)
Rangers resulted in an 8-5 victory with John Herrera picking up the win. The
second game was against the Colton Nighthawks in Clairemont, CA at Hickman
Field and the outcome was a 3-1 win with starter Lance Trester getting the win
with four innings of work and Shawn Nottingham going the final three innings.
Parma is now 4-0 in the tournament and will play two more games on
Sunday.In the opener today, the Ohioans jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when lead-off batter Ben Copeland singled, went to second and third base on a stolen base and error. He scored on Matt Jackson's RBI-single. The lead remained until the third inning when Herrera gave up a solo home run to tie the score, 1-1. Parma fell behind in the fourth when Herrera gave up another solo home run for a 2-1 score.
But the team came back with a four run burst in their fourth when Jackson doubled and Dave Waters singled him home. Scott Billak then bunted for a single and Chad Campbell clobbered the ball to centerfield for a three-run home run bringing the score to 5-2. San Luis came back with a run in the fifth to make it, 5-3 but Parma scored three more in their fifth when Drew Saylor and Jackson singled followed by Waters' powerful blast over the right field fence for a three-run homer. Herrera went into the seventh inning with an 8-3 lead but gave up a two-run home run before being replaced by Chad Campbell to get the final out of the game.
The second game against the defending tournament champion Nighthawks was the best played game of the tournament so far with Parma once against scoring first when the first batter of the game, Ben Copeland, tripled to the left field corner and then came home with a grounder by Drew Saylor to the right side of the infield. The score went to 3-0 in the third inning when Copeland got on base with a strikeout but the catcher dropped the ball and then threw it past the first baseman for a two-base error. Ben ended up on third base. Two batters later, Saylor tripled to centerfield scoring Copeland. Saylor then scored on Jackson's ground out.
Meanwhile, Lance Trester was keeping Colton off the base path only giving up three hits with one walk and four strikeouts. The plan was to split the pitching duty in this game and Shawn Nottingham came on in the fifth. He pitched well but ran into trouble in the seventh when he gave up Colton's only run on three hits. The tying run was on second base when Nottingham struck out the last batter to end the game.
Friday, August 2nd. San Diego, CA The
second game of the day saw an offensive explosion as Parma MSI crushed Diamond
(CA) Bar, 15-0, behind three home runs, including a grand slam by Scott Billak,
and the pitching of Cameron Betourne. When Ben Copeland hit the first pitch of the game over the centerfield fence for a home run, you sensed this would not be a pitching duel. Tim Begley followed with a bunt single, Drew Saylor was hit with a pitch and Matt Jackson walked to load the bases. Lance Trester's ground out drove in the second run and then Billak's two-run double made it 4-0 in the first inning.
In the second inning, two more runs scored when Copeland led off with a bunt single, stole two bases and after two outs, scored on Jackson's RBI-single. Jackson then scored on Trester's double.
After failing to score in the third inning, the bats came alive again in the fourth. With a 6-0 lead, Begley led off with a double and Jackson homered to right centerfield for two runs. Trester singled, Billak walked and Shane Darnofall doubled both of them home for a 10-0 Parma lead.
The scoring was completed in the fifth inning when Begley walked, Joe Fratarcangelo doubled him home for one run. Kyle Moriarity was hit by a pitch and Shawn Nottingham walked to load the bases. Billak then cleared the bases with a grand slam to left field, his seventh home run of the year.Billak ended with six RBI in the game. Jackson added three RBI.
On the pitching side, Betourne only yielded one hit while striking out 10 batters and walking three. There were only two plays that did not involve Betourne or catcher Darnofall, a line drive out to first base in the third inning and a ground out to first base in the fifth. Two of the walks and the single were caught stealing and the 10 strikeouts accounted for thirteen of the fifteen outs. The game ended after five innings due to the run limit.
Saturday's first game is at 11:15 a.m. at El Capitan H.S. and the second one is at 2 p.m. at Hickman.
Friday, August 2nd. San Diego, CA Parma MSI responded to the early monring start today with a 5-1
victory over the San Diego Crush in their first game at the USABF tournament.
Dave Welch limited the Crush to four hits and one unearned run in going the
distance for his 11th win of the year. Welchy, inspired by his new "Australian
flag" tattoo, didn't walk anyone and struck out eight in a game lasting one
hour and 34 minutes.Parma got on the board first with a run in the second inning when Lance Trester led off with a double, advanced to third on a grounder and scored on Dave Waters ground out. The score went to 2-0 in the third inning as Scott Billak singled, advanced to second on a stolen base, went to third on the catcher's errant throw on the stolen base and scored on Ben Copeland's RBI-single.The Crush made it 2-1 in the fifth with a lead-off single and a two-base infield error by Parma.
The team added some insurance runs in the sixth inning when Drew Saylor led off with a single and stole second base. Matt Jackson then walked. Saylor advanced to third base on Trester's flyout to centerfield. With Shawn Nottingham at the plate, Jackson took off for second on a steal and stopped, while Saylor then darted for home. The double steal was successful as the throw home was wide. Jackson then scored on a single by Nottingham. Two batters later, after advancing to third, Nottingham scored on a pass ball for the 5-1 score. Of the seven Parma hits, Billak and Nottingham had two each with Copeland, Saylor and Trester each with one.
The second game today will be at 4 p.m. Pacific time against Diamond Bar at Mar Vista, south of San Diego
Thursday, August 1st. After
checking-in, Coach P found there have been schedule changes starting on Friday
for the USABF tournament. The first game will be on Friday at 7:45 a.m. at El
Capitan High School in Lakeside against the San Diego Crush. The second game on
Friday will be against Diamond (CA) Bar at 4 pm at Mar Vista. Saturday, the first game is at 11:15 am against the San Luis (CA) Rangers at El Capitan H.S. and the second game is at 2 pm against the Colton Nighthawks at Hickman.
Sunday, the first game is at 8:30 am against the Riverside (CA) Royals at Montgomery High School. The second game is at 4:45 pm against Baseball Factory South at Hickman. All times are Pacific Daylight Time.
Wednesday, July 31st. The team
arrived in San Diego, CA tonight for the USABF World Series starting on Friday,
August 2nd. There are two games scheduled for each day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Those six games in the round robin pool action will determine the seeding for the double-elimination round beginning on Tuesday, August 6th. Monday is an off day. No team can be eliminated before Thursday, August 8th. For more information on the tournament - USABF Website. Also, stay here for pictures and game recaps as Parma MSI invades the left coast.
Sunday, July 28th. South Carolina. Parma MSI recovered from a dismal showing on Friday in the Winthrop
Invitational to topple the Wilmington (NC) Bucs at Rock Hill, SC, 9-6, and win
their fourth tournament championship of the season. The Parma win combined with
a Charlotte Express loss on Sunday gave MSI the best overall record in the
tourney and the title which gives them the most in franchise history in six
attempts this season. They have also played for the title in five of the six.
On Sunday, the offense came out swinging and battered Wilmington starter, Jordan, for three first inning runs. Ben Copeland opened the game with a single to left, stole second, and scored on Tim Begley's ringing single to right center. Later in the frame Drew Saylor singled, Matt Jackson walked, and both scored on consecutive hits by Scott Billak (a single) and Shane Darnofall (a double) to give Parma a 3-0 lead.
With starter Chad Campbell on the hill with an impressive 6-1 mark and a miniscule 0.66 era, the smiles began to show in the Parma dugout. Campbell had been used twice previously on this trip to the Carolinas and was definitely suffering the effects of the recent work and blistering morning heat. Wilmington bounced back within a tally in first to cut the lead to 3-1. Parma responded in the second with a Copeland single and a two base throwing error moving him to third. He later scored on an error to reclaim a three-run lead at 4-1.
The Bucs cut it to two again with a solo run in their second before the Parma bats came out booming in the third. Billak doubled to the wall in left center, stole third and scored on a later errant pickoff throw by Jordan. Meanwhile, Darnofall walked, moved to third on the same error and scored on Kyle Moriarity's sac fly. The final tally of the frame to make the score 7-2 came on a Copeland double and a dropped fly ball in the outfield off the bat of Begley. MSI completed their scoring in the fourth when Billak drew a one-out walk and rode home on Shane Darnofall's 395-foot blast down the left field line off the top of the foul pole. It was his thrid homer of the year.
The Bucs blew a golden opporunity to score when they loaded the bases in the fourth but Campbell induced a grounder to Moriarity for the force to end the inning at 9-2. They did come roaring back in the fifth as Campebll showed signs of tiring. Four runs on four hits made it a game once again at 9-6. Campbell regrouped and dominated the final two innings in which Wilmington batted and completed his seventh game of the season. He walked two and struck out seven and won his seventh game in eight decisions despite yielding a season-high fifteen hits to the Bucs.
MSI is now off until they venture to the left coast to tangle in the USABF World Series which begins on Friday in San Diego, California.
Saturday, July 27th. South Carolina. Parma MSI ventured into South Carolina on Friday to begin play at
Winthrop University. They did not get off to a good start by losing the first
game against the Charlotte Megastars, 8-6, but bounced back in the nightcap,
8-7, in eight innings against the Diamond Dogs-17's. Saturday saw Parma MSI struggle, but squeeze out two victories to put them right back into the Winthrop Invitational championship hunt heading into the final day on Sunday.
In Game One Saturday morning, Dave Welch didnt have his best stuff but gutted out a complete game performance in besting the host Diamond (SC) Devils 18s, 5-3 for his team-leading tenth win in twelve decisions. Welch scattered seven hits and held off a late Devils' rally to post the victory. The Australian lefty walked two and struck out eight. Parma got on the board in the first when Ben Copeland led off the game with an opposite field double, was sacrificed to third by Joe Fratarcangelo, and came home on a sac fly by Drew Saylor.
After the Diamond Devils scored two in the second to take the lead, MSI rebounded to tie it in the third when Dan Victor singled, was sacrificed to second by Copeland, and scored on Saylor's single. The Buckeyes took control of the contest captializing on four Devils' errors, a hitsbatsman, and singles by Tim Begley and Copeland. Each safety was the second of the game for both Begley and Copeland to pace Parma's seven-hit attack. Saylor knocked in two rbi.
Game two was a game that turned from a runaway into a dramatic comeback win for MSI as they failed to hold two substantial leads against the Diamond (SC) Balldawgs, but rallied to post a thrilling 12-11 win in the bottom of the seventh. Parma built a six-run cushion at 8-2 after five and seemed to have things in control before the defense went south and hurler Matt McKinnon struggled with the top of the Balldwags' order to allow four runs in the sixth and five more in the top of the seventh to send Parma into a 11-9 deficit heading to the home half of the seventh.
Victor lead off the frame with a five-pitch walk, and Scott Billak beat out an excellent drag bunt to put the tying runs on base. Begley then walked to load them up and Saylor unloaded them with a 400-foot blast to left for the walk-off grand slam. That was Saylor's only hit of game two but it couldn't have some at a better time. The home run (his sixth) made a winner of Matt McKinnon (6-3) who yielded eleven hits in going the distance, but gave up only one walk.
The offense was plentiful for MSI as nine different players collected hits led by Dave Waters who had three (including two doubles and an rbi) and Begley with two more singles. The running game was also in full force as Parma pilfered seven bases in as many attempts. Shane Darnofall also knocked in two runs for MSI.
That sets the stage for a possible championship for MSI. They complete the round robin affair Sunday morning at 9:00 against the Wilmington (NC) Bucs at Winthrop University with Chad Campbell (6-1, 0.66) on the hill. A victory could give MSI its fourth title in six tournies pending the outcomes of the days remaining contests. The results will probably not be known until the team returns to Ohio on Sunday evening.
Thursday, July 25th. North Carolina. Thursday saw Parma travel to North Carolina, get off the plane, and
take on the Charlotte Express in Charlotte for a 5-3 win. The game was
scheduled late Wednesday night in order to shake off the cobwebs from four off
days and ready each club for participation in the Winthrop Invitational which
starts on Friday. MSI looked disinterested in the early innings as they fell behind 3-0 after one inning. The Express struck Parma starter Dan Victor as they parlayed two hits, a hit batsman, and an error to plate what proved to be their total for the game. Victor was the first of five MSI hurlers that got work and they shut down the Express for only four safeties. The Parma staff has yielded a total eighteen hits in the past six games and continue to lead the late season charge toward 50 wins and a couple of additional tourney titles.
John Herrera pitched a perfect fifth striking out two of the three hitters he faced and collected his eighth win in ten decisions. Herrera followed Joe Fratarcangelo, and preceded Matt McKinnon and Chad Campbell. Campbell pitched the seventh and overcame a couple of Parma defensive miscues to earn his second save of the campaign.
The Parma offense sputtered though the first four innings with the only hits coming off the bats of Dave Welch in the first and Scott Billak in the fourth. Finally the scoring came alive in the fifth. Kyle Moriarity walked, Matt Jackson singled him to second and they boht advancedc on a wild pitch. Chad Campbell then got them on the board with a sacrifice fly to deep right center. Moriarity scored and Jackson moved to third. He later scored on a ground out by Victor. Parma tied the contest on a double by John Herrera and a single by Drew Saylor. MSI then plated a run in the sixth to break the deadlock when Billak had a perfect drag bunt to start the frame, stole second and eventually scored on Campbell's single in a hit and run. The final run came across in the seventh when Saylor singled and Dave Waters tripled to wall in right center. Saylor and Billake each had two hits to pace the team's eleven-hit attack. Nine different players were after to get into the hit column. Campbell drove in two.
Friday morning MSI begins play in the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill, South Carolina at 9:00 a.m. against the Charlotte Megastars and then at 8:00 in the evening vs. the Diamond Devil 17s. Both games will be played at Winthrop University. Cameron Betourne (4-1) goes in the eye opener and David Welch (9-2) tosses in the dusk contest.
Sunday, July 21stTennessee Parma MSI
advanced to a team record fourth title game in five tournaments on Sunday but
for the first time this season they came up a run short and were beaten in the
bottom of the seventh inning 3-2 by the Birmingham Balldawgs in the Big South
Classic in New Market, Tennessee.MSI got the scoring started in the first frame when with one out Ben Copeland was safe on a bad hop single. Drew Saylor then singled to right and Matt Jackson doubled to leftcenter to score Copeland. A chance to blow the game open early for starting pitcher Chad Campbell went by the wayside when with runners at second and third two consecutive hitters struck out ending further damage. The end result was a 1-0 lead and left new hope for the team from Alabama.
Campbell experienced rare control problems in the first which led to two unearned runs and a 2-1 deficit. After the bottom of the frame opened with an infield error, a hit-batsman and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. Campbell induced a double play grounder to plate the first run and then yielded his first hit to score the second run.
MSI blew scoring opportunity one after another through out the game and just continued their struggles with men in scoring position. Coach Pelka commented, "We have really had trouble in the last three weeks establishing any sort of consistency with our offensive attack. So many guys are trying to do so many things instead of just moving runners up or putting the ball in play like we have done early in the season. Our goal for the next five games is to get much smarter at the plate and overall. We continue to miss signs and play very foolishly. Its really disappointing and sometimes I question our guys commitment to concentrating for an entire game."
The game remained 2-1 until the top of the seventh when Shane Darnofall led off by reaching second on an error. Cameron Betourne ran for Darnofall. After a strikeout, Dan Victor walked. A wild pitch during the next sequence moved the runners up to second and third and an errant throw by the catcher scored Betourne and moved Victor to third. Unfortunately, a lack of offensive capitalization reared its ugly head again as Victor was stranded at third on a strikeout and weak bouncer to first base.
Parma will now be off until the travel to Rock Hill, South Carolina for the Devil Dog Invitational beginning this weekend. A schedule can be seen on the results link on the web page. Cam Betourne will open the tourney on the hill. "We are going to try and get all of our pitchers an equal amount of work with the shortage of games in the next ten days and then the overabundance of them once we get to San Diego," stated Pelka. "South Carolia will be a good test for our hitters to rebound also!"
Saturday, July 20th. Tennessee Parma
MSI climbed back into the Big South Classic Championship chase by upending the
previously-undefeated Knoxville Thunder 4-2 at the Southeastern Sports Complex
in New Market, Tennessee. Parma advances for their final contest of the tourney
which in reality amounts to the bracket Championship game on Sunday morning at
10:45 against Birmingham (AL) Baseball. The winner will claim the tourney
title. The only issue that can complicate matters is if the teams end in a tie
due to time limit or if the contest is rained out. On Saturday, MSI got the long ball going to supply most of the offense against Knoxville. Drew Saylor smashed two opposite field homers in the first and third to stake lefty Matt McKinnon to a 2-0 lead. The blasts were Saylor's 4th and 5th of the season. The two longballs hit in almost the identical spot over the 365' sign in rightcenter. Knoxville fought back and tied the game with two solo tallies (one of which was unearned) to knot the score after four innings. Parma's hitters struggled to find some holes in the Thunder defense even though they hit the ball hard. Dave Waters finally found one when he deposited a fastball well over the right field wall in a titanic blast with two out in the sixth to give MSI a 3-2 lead they would never relenquish. Parma added a solo run in the top of seventh for some breathing room on a two-out hits batsman for Scott Billak, a stolen base, and Ben Copeland's rbi double.
Matt McKinnon wouldn't need it as he tossed argueably his best performance of the season in flipping a four-hitter at Knoxville to raise his record to 5-3 and lower his era to 4.02. Mac walked none and struck out seven which set the tone for the contest. MSI hurlers have now allowed ten hits in four games and only five earned runs in the same stretch. Chad Campbell will take the ball tomorrow against Birmingham for the title.
Friday, July 19th. Tennessee Friday
morning was one of missed opportunities for Parma MSI as they missed numerous
scoring opportunities on offensive, wasted a two-hit combined pitching
performance, and misplayed a fly ball to lead to the eventual winning run in
losing a 3-2 verdict to the Beckley (WV) Bash and suffer their first loss in
three games in the Big South Classic in New Market, Tennessee. The loss also
breaks a seven-game MSI winning streak and now forces Parma to win out in the
final two days to have any chance at their fourth title in five tournaments
this summer. MSI jumped on the board in the top of the first when Ben Copeland hit an opposite field double and later scored on a dropped pop-up. Parma handed it right back in the bottom half of the first when starter Dan Thomson walked three and hit a batter to force in the tying tally. The Ohioans came right back in the top of the second when Chad Campbell tripled to deep leftcenter and scored on a sacrifice fly by Dan Victor. Beckley tied it in the third on more Thomson control problems and took the lead with the eventual winning run in the top of the fourth when two walks with one out ushered Thomson out of the game in favor of Joe Fratarcangelo. Fratarcangelo induced a fly ball which was missed for an error loading the bases and then Gravely followed with the first Bash hit of the game to left to score the run. Fratarcangelo induced a double play grounder to end the frame but the fatal damage was already inflicted.
Parma threatened again in the fifth and seventh innings but no production with men in scoring position and shoddy baserunning proved lethal. Six different players collected solo hits for MSI, but Parma going 0-6 with men in scoring position hurt the cause. Unfortunately, the pitching staff has yielded only six hits in the last three games here in the Smokey Mountains, but the team stands at 2-1 as they head into Saturday's game against the Knoxville Thunder with Matt McKinnon hurling the pill.
Thursday, July 18th. Tennessee Like
Sherman, Parma MSI kept marching through the deep south on Thursday ast they
swept a DH in the Big South Classic in New Market, Tennessee winning the first
game 18-2 and the second contest 7-1. The two wins give the Ohioans nine in a
row and ten of their last eleven in the "W" column. It also puts them 2-0 in
the weekend long tourney heading into action on Friday morning against the
Beckley (WV) Bash at 10:00 a.m. The long ball ("Which Chicks dig!") and tremendous pitching (which scouts and coaches like) won the two games on Thursday. In the opener MSI slammed four homers and got a three-hit combined performance from Dave Welch and Dan Victor (2-1) to notch the opening game. Tim Begley, Chad Campbell, and Dan Victor all had three hits each to pace the seventeen-hit attack. Homers came off the bats of Scott Billak, Dan Thomson, Ben Copeland, and Campbell. Billak, Drew Saylor, and Matt Jackson also had two hits each.
In the second game, John Herrera took a no-hitter into the seventh and with one out allowed a single down the right field that brought up chalk and finished with a one-hitter. Herrera is coming off the no-hit performance in the semi-finals of the IBC International Championships last Thursday against the Central Florida Red Raiders and was working on 13 2/3 consecutive hitless innings. Herrera struck out a season-high 11 with no walks and raised his mark to 7-2. Hitting stars of the second game were Joe Fratarcangelo with two hits and his first homer of the year and the same can be said of Dan Victor who also had two knocks and his first roundtripper of the season. Ben Copeland and Chad Campbell also had two safeties. Dan Thomson takes the mound Friday morning for MSI in their only contest of the day.
Tuesday, July 16th Parma MSI made the
most of their final at-bats in sweeping the Ohio Thunder on Tuesday at Kent
State. Parma won the first game 3-2 in eight innings when Dan Victor walked
with the bases loaded to force in the winning tally and make a winner out of
Dave Welch (9-1). Scott Billak, Ben Copeland, and Matt Jackson each had two
hits. Jackson also knocked in two tallies. In the nightcap, Scott Billak doubled home Joe Fratarcangelo with the game-winner in the home half of the seventh to give MSI their seventh win in the last eight games. John Herrera got the win in relief (6-2) despite allowing the tying run to score in the top half of the frame. Eight MSIers had safeties with Billak leading the way with two. Ben Copeland stroked his second homer of the season (both at Kent State) in the third with a man on. Parma wins the season series with the Thunder 3 games to 1 and lead the overall tally 5-2. Wednesday is a travel date and the team begins play in Tennessee on Thursday morning at 10:45 CST against Rose City, Michigan.
Friday, July 12th. Florida Parma MSI
came away with the IBC Championship this morning with a come from behind
victory, 10-5, against the Sebring (FL) Streak. Dave Welch only gave up one hit
over final 4.2 innings in relief of Matt McKinnon to give Parma the chance to
make up an early 5-0 deficit. Welchy stretched his scoreless inning streak in
Florida to 11.1 innings. He gave up a two-out walk in the fifth inning which
broke his perfect innings count at 9 spread over three games. The single he
gave up in the sixth inning broke a string of 9.1 innings without allowing a
hit.After a scoreless first inning, Sebring scored twice off McKinnon on three consecutive hits and a ground out. They then scored three more times in the third on four consecutive hits to make the score 5-0. Welch came on and only one gave up the one walk and one hit while striking out five the rest of the way.
In the meantime, Parma slowly worked it's way back with one third inning run when Scott Billak and Ben Copeland walked. Drew Saylor singled to right field loading the bases. Matt Jackson then hit a sacrifice fly to left field scoring Billak. Parma scored another run in the fourth inning when Chad Campbell led off with a single and two wild pitches later he was on third base when Dan Victor's sacrifice fly brought the score to 5-2.
The bottom of the sixth began with Parma trailing 5-2 and time running out. They got the break they were looking for when lead-off batter Dave Waters reached on an error. The next play changed the outcome of the game. Tim Begley bounced a ball to the second baseman and it looked like a sure double play. But the umpire ruled that Waters was safe at second base on the throw to the bag. The relay to first base was also ruled safe. So now Parma had two runners on with no outs instead of two outs with no one on base. Chad Campbell came to the plate next and hit the ball over the left field fence to tie the game, 5-5. After Kyle Moriarity walked, Sebring changed pitchers and after getting one out, he lost his control and walked Billak and Copeland before giving up a two-run single to Saylor. After an error scored another run, the pitcher walked Jackson and gave up a single to Waters before being replaced by the third Sebring pitcher. Once again Campbell came through with a two-run single. In the inning, Campbell had a home run and a single and five RBI. He was 4-for-4 on the day. The eight run inning finished off Sebring and brought the championship trophy to Parma MSI.
Thursday, July 11th. Florida Parma
MSI will play for the championship of the IBC tournament tomorrow after
defeating Central Florida, 13-0, behind the no-hit pitching of John Herrera and
an offense that finally broke out. In a five inning game shortened by the eight
run rule, Herrera had a perfect game through three inngs before giving up a
lead-off walk in the fourth. An infield error followed and those were the only
two baserunners allowed in the five innings. John struck out five of the 16
batters he faced. Offensively, Parma jumped on the opposing pitcher quickly with three runs in the first. Scott Billak led off with a single, went to third on a errant pickoff attempt and scored on Ben Copeland's single. Drew Saylor walked, stole second base and scored on Tim Begley's single. The second inning saw five more runs cross the plate. Chad Campbell led off with a double, Dan Victor singled, and after one out Copeland singled, scoring Campbell. Saylor bounced a ball to third where the fielder threw home to get Victor. Matt Jackson then singled to score Copeland followed by Dave Waters' single scoring Saylor. The final run of the inning came from Begley's triple, scoring Jackson. Begley also was the third out of the inning when he was tagged out at home plate trying to score.
The final five runs were scored in the third inning. Shane Darnofall started it with a single. After one out, Victor singled. Both advanced on a wild pitch. Billak then singled to centerfield scoring both runners. Copeland made the second out and then Saylor doubled scoring Billak. Jackson followed with a single scoring Saylor and then Waters tripled scoring Jackson. Central Florida changed pitchers after the third inning and Parma didn't score in the final two innings.
In celebration after the game, the team went to 7-11, the convenience store, and filled up on free slurpees. 7-11 is celebrating it's 75th anniversary today with free slurpees nationwide.
Tomorrow's championship game will start at 9 a.m. with the opponent to be determined in today's final game.
Wednesday, July 10th. Florida Parma
MSI got back on the winning track this afternoon when they defeated Polk
County, 4-3. This is the same team they lost to yesterday. With today's win,
the next game will be at 1 pm on Thursday against Central Florida. If they win
that one then Parma will be in the championship game on Friday.Cameron Betourne went the distance in today's winning allowing two earned runs in seven innings. Parma finally broke the streak of allowing runs in the first inning when Betourne got the final two outs of the inning with runners on second and third. In the bottom of the inning, Parma took the lead on Drew Saylor's triple and Matt Jackson's RBI-single. Polk County came back to tie it with a solo home run in the third inning but Parma went ahead in the bottom of the third when Saylor reached on an error and scored on Jackson's double for a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth, Parma scored again when Tim Begley led off with a double to the gap in right centerfield. A wild pitch put him on third base and the catcher then threw the ball into left field while Begley was going to third. Tim walked home with the third run for Parma. The final run came in the sixth when Dan Victor bunted and reached base when the pitcher threw the ball past first base. Scott Billak then tripled to left centerfield as Parma's lead went to 4-1.
Meanwhile, Betourne was keeping Polk County in check They threatened in the sixth inning when a walk, single and wild pitch put runners on second and third before Cameron could get the final out of the inning. In the seventh, the game got interesting when a lead off error by Parma put the first batter on base. Betourne walked the next batter bringing the tying run to the plate. He reached down for a little extra and struck out the next two batters before giving up a double scoring both runners and the score was 4-3. With the tying run at second base, the next batter put a scare into everyone as centerfield Ben Copeland started in on a fly ball that was well hit. Copeland adjusted backwards and caught the ball for the final out preserving the win.
Jackson went 2-for-2 with 2 RBI; Saylor was 2-for-4 with 2 runs; Billak had the triple and RBI; Begley had a double and a run scored.
Tuesday, July 9th. Florida The
tournament continued today in Winter Haven. Parma MSI went down to defeat 6-5
to a local team from Polk County. Once again the team fell behind in the first
inning giving up one run on a sacrifice fly after a hit, pass ball and ground
out. But Parma tied it up in the second after Dave Waters reached on an error,
Chad Campbell singled and Scott Billak drove home the run with another single.
Parma took the lead in the third inning when Ben Copeland led off with a bunt
single and two outs later Waters hit a double to center field moving Copeland
to third base. The second baseman then threw wild to home plate and Copeland
scored for a 2-1 Parma lead. In the fourth inning, Parma added to it's lead with three more runs when Shane Darnofall led off with a single and Kyle Moriarity sacrifice bunted him to second base. With a ground out, Darnofall moved to third. Billak then walked and went to second on a wild pitch. With the runners on second and third, Copeland singled to right field to bring home the runs and Parma now had a 5-1 lead.
Steve Less started on the mound for Parma and was holding his own until he got the 5-1 lead. He walked the first two batters in the fourth inning before getting a strikeout for the first out. He then gave up another walk to load the bases. A single followed, driving in one run and chasing Steve from the mound. Dan Victor came on and gave up a single to score a second run but another runner was tagged out at the plate on the throw from centerfield. A pop up finished the inning and Parma's lead was down to 5-3.
Despite getting two walks to start the fifth inning, Parma couldn't get the runners beyond second and third base. In the bottom of the inning, Polk County started with a double off Victor. Two batters later a two-run home run to left field tied the score at 5-5. A scoreless sixth inning set up the fateful seventh inning. Parma went down 1-2-3 and in the bottom of the seventh, John Herrera came on to pitch. A lead-off single, a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk put runners at first and second. A double steal moved them up to second and third. A ground ball to the right side then brought the winning run home.
Tomorrow begins the double elimination round of the tournament. Parma is the number three seed and will play at 3:30 p.m. against this same Polk County team. The game will be at the Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven, FL.
Monday, July 8th. Florida Today was
another successful beginning to Parma MSI tournament action with two victories
in the USSSA World Championships at Winter Haven. Although only one game was
scheduled for this morning, the schedule was changed upon arriving at the
field. The second game was played at 1 pm with a slight rain
delay.In the first game, Parma defeated the Sebring Streak 2-1 behind the pitching of Chad Campbell and RBI's from Ben Copeland and Matt Jackson. In what is beginning to be a normal pattern, Parma fell behind early when Campbell gave up a run in the first inning on a double, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly. But Chad only gave up two more hits over the final six innings to post the win. He didn't walk anyone and struck out six.
In another pattern that has followed the team lately, the fifth inning turned out to be the game saver. Dan Victor led off with a single and one out later Ben Copeland tripled him home. After the second out, Matt Jackson singled home Copeland with what turned out to be the winning run. Both of them had two hits each.
In the second game, Parma MSI came out on top of an 11-5 score but the pattern continued. The opponent this time was Auburndale and they scored a run in the first when Parma starter Daniel Thomson walked the first two batters of the game and the run scored on an error. Parma did bounce back in the bottom of the first with two runs of their own on a couple of walks and wild pitches to go along with a couple stolen bases. Neither team had a hit but the score was 2-1 after the first inning.
The second inning saw Auburndale take the lead again with four runs when Thomson walked the lead-off batter again followed by two singles, an error and another single to account for the 5-2 lead. That was the final inning for Thomson who appeared to have some control problems today.
Parma came roaring back in the bottom half of the third when they took the lead for good scoring six runs mostly after two outs. Drew Saylor led-off with a single. Two outs later, Tim Begley doubled home Saylor. Then Kyle Moriarity was hit with a pitch, Greg Svihlik singled scoring Begley, Joe Fratarcangelo walked loading the bases. Scott Billak then drove all three runners home with a double to left field. Ben Copeland followed with a single scoring Billak for an 8-5 Parma lead. The scoring was completed in the sixth inning when Parma MSI scored three more times. Copeland led-off with a double, Saylor was hit by a pitch, and Jackson hit a sacrifice fly for one run. Begley singled in the second run and Svihlik's single brought the final run home. Svihlik was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI; Billak - 2-for-4, 3 RBI; Begley - 2-for-4, 2 RBI; Copeland - 2-for-3, 1 RBI.
The biggest story of this game occurred on the mound. Thomson only went two innings but waiting in the wings was fellow Australian David Welch who proceeded to pitch five perfect innings with 10 strikeouts. In one stretch, he had 8 K's in a row including all three in the fourth and fifth and the first two batters in the sixth to set a new Parma record. The other five outs were two fly balls and three ground balls. Out of 51 pitches, Welch threw 41 strikes.
Tomorrow, the team will play only one game at 3:30 p.m. at Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven, Field #5. The pitching will be split with Steve Less starting and Dan Victor in relief.
Sunday, July 7th. Florida The team
had a travel day today and drove to Lakeland, FL where they will be staying
while playing in the USSSA World Championships. The first game will be on
Monday at 10:30 a.m. at Chain'O'Lakes Park in Winter Haven, FL on Field #5. The
opponent is not known at this time. They will play two games on Tuesday, site
and times not yet determined.
Saturday, July 6th. Florida In a
complete turnaround from just a few days ago, Parma MSI finished it's
participation in the Lake County Invitational with two, 8-0 losses today at
South Lake High School.In the first game at 9 am, Parma played the Orlando Scorpions with Joe Fratarcangelo on the mound. The team started out sluggish in the field with two errors in the first inning leading to a run. Fratarcangelo struggled in the third when he gave up six runs on six hits. Dan Victor replaced him and pitched admirably the rest of the way. The final run came in the bottom of the sixth inning on a solo home run which also ended the game on the eight run rule. The offense also fell silent in this game with only two hits, a first inning single by Drew Saylor and a second inning single by Scott Billak.
Although the team wasn't supposed to play a second game, the Orlando team pulled out of the tournament so Parma MSI took their spot. The 2 pm game against Southwest Florida resulted in the same 8-0 score. With Matt McKinnon on the mound, the first inning was a struggle again when SW Florida scored three runs on three hits and an error. Parma could never getting going in this one either when they could only manage three hits with Saylor's first inning single and Billak's two singles in the third and fifth innings. McKinnon gave up four runs in the fourth inning and a solo home run in the fifth but the tone of the game was set in the first. The game ended after five innings on the eight run rule.
"Matt threw strikes today but suffered from a lack of offensive and defensive support, " said Coach Pelka.
Also, this is the first time in Parma MSI history that the team has been shutout in consecutive games.
Tomorrow, the team will head to Winter Haven, FL to begin play in the USSSA World Championships. Schedule to be determined for the Monday start
Friday, July 5th. Florida Lake County
Invitational. Parma MSI continued it's winning ways this morning when they
defeated the Rockdale County (Ga) A's, 7-4, with Cameron Betourne (3-1, 4.29
ERA) going the distance for the win. Betourne only gave up one hit in the first
three innings but gave up all four runs in the fourth on a walk, two singles,
an error and another single. He settled down after that and only gave up one
hit over the last three innings. Trailing 4-0 in the fourth inning, Parma came back with one run on Tim Begley's RBI-single. They took the lead in the fifth with four runs when Chad Campbell led off with a home run, then singles by Dan Victor, Ben Copeland, and Drew Saylor loaded the bases. Matt Jackson then cleared them with a double to centerfield for a 5-4 lead. Parma added two insurance runs in the sixth inning when the leftfielder dropped a routine fly ball and two runners scored on what should have been the third out of the inning.
With the win, Parma remained in the winner's bracket with a 3-0 record, and next played at 12 noon against the East Cobb Astros. However, the winning streak came to an end with East Cobb's 7-6 win in a six inning game shortened by time constraints. Parma's defense didn't show up in the first inning when East Cobb scored four times on only three hits but three Parma errors. In the bottom of the inning, Parma scored once on Scott Billak's lead-off double and Drew Saylor's RBI-single to make it 4-1.
East Cobb scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to run the lead to 6-1. Parma finally got going in the fifth inning when they scored three times when Ben Copeland walked, and scored on three wild pitches. Saylor and Dave Waters walked and Campbell doubled them both home. With the score now 6-4, East Cobb scored one more time in the top of the sixth to make it 7-4 to set up the bottom of the sixth inning.
Joe Frantarcangelo started out with a single, and was forced out on a ground ball by Scott Billak. Copeland walked and Saylor was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Matt Jackson popped up for the second out. Dave Waters then walked to force in a run. Tim Begley also walked to force in another run as the East Cobb pitcher could not find the strike zone. With bases still loaded, Chad Campbell hit a soft line drive to the shortstop on the first pitch to end the game. The seventh inning wasn't played due to time limit. Games at the other fields were rained out and they needed this field to complete the rainouts.
John Herrera took the loss going 5.2 innings while Steve Less got the final out.
Tomorrow, the team will play again at 9 am against a yet to be determined opponent at South Lake High School, off Highway 50 west of Clermont, FL. With a win, the team will play again at 2 pm for 5th place in the tournament.
Thursday, July 4th. Florida Day two
of the Lake County Invitational saw Parma MSI get an early start at 9 am with a
16-4 win against Pompano Post 142 at Mt. Dora High School. In another game
shortened to five innings because of the eight run rule, David Welch picked up
his sixth win going the distance while giving up four hits and striking out
four. The pitching streak of scoreless innings ended at 22 when Welch gave up
all four runs (only two earned, lowering his ERA to 4.28) in the fourth inning.
A lead-off walk and two doubles scored two runs and then a couple of infield
errors brought home the other two runs. Offfensively, Parma got on the board with two runs in the first inning when lead-off batter Scott Billak bunted for a single and went to second when the pitcher threw the ball away. Ben Copeland then bunted and reached base on another pitcher error. With Billak at third base, Copeland then stole second base. With one out, Matt Jackson's ground-out brought in one run and a pass ball then scored Copeland.
The score went to 8-0 in the third when Parma scored six times. Billak led off with a single, stole second base and scored on Copeland's single. A stolen base and two wild pitches later, Copeland scored. Drew Saylor walked and Jackson brought him home with a double. Jackson was tagged out at third base trying to advance on the throw home. Dave Waters singled and Tim Begley followed with his third home run of the year. That chased the Post 142 starting pitcher. The final run of the inning greeted the new pitcher when Shane Darnofall slammed his second home run of the year over the left field wall.
The boys added four more runs in the fourth inning to make the score 12-0 when they batted around for the second straight inning. Billak led off again and hit a triple to centerfield. Copeland reached on an error scoring Billak. After one out, Jackson reached base on another error, sending Copeland to third base. Copeland then scored on a catcher error. Waters stepped to the plate next, and finished the scoring in the inning with a two-run home run to right field.
After Post 142 scored their four runs in the fourth to make it 12-4, Parma came back to finish the scoring with a four-run fifth. For the third straight inning the team would bat around and Billak would start it off. This time he homered to left field. Copeland, Dan Victor and Cameron Betourne all singled, loading the bases. Waters singled in one run, one run scored on a wild pitch and the final run came in on Darnofall's double.
Scott Billak went 4-for-4 with 4 runs scored; Shane Darnofall was also 4-for-4 with 2 RBI; Dave Waters was 3-for-4 with 3 RBI; Ben Copeland went 2-for-3 with 4 runs scored. With today's 19 hits, the team is now batting .375 and the pitching staff ERA is 3.46
Tomorrow is another early first game for Parma with a 9 am start against Rockdale (Ga) County A's at Lake Sumter Community College near Tavares, FL. The second game will be at 12 noon or 5 pm depending on the outcome of the first game. The starter in the first game will be Cameron Betourne (2-1, 4.64 ERA) and starting the second will be John Herrera (4-0, 1.24 ERA).
Wednesday, July 3rd. The team
arrived in Florida at 12 noon today and after checking into the hotel promptly
drove to Clermont, FL west of Orlando to play their first game in the Lake
County Invitational. against the South Lake Hawks. It only took 1 hour and 13
minutes for Parma MSI to dispose of it's first opponent, 8-0, in a five inning
game shortened by tournament rules. Chad Campbell picked up the shutout win
giving up only two hits while striking out six. He threw 52 pitches with 39
strikes in the complete game victory. "Chad pitched well today and was able to
place his fastball where he wanted it" said Coach Pelka, "This makes it 19
straight innings where the pitching staff hasn't given up a run." Campbell
lowered his ERA to 0.61 while increasing his record to 5-1. Opponents are
batting .226 against him this year. Parma scored all of it's runs in the second inning when 13 batters came to the plate. Dave Waters started it off with a double to right centerfield. Tim Begley drove him home with a single up the middle for the first run of the game. With one out, Joe Fratarcangelo singled and Dan Victor reached on an error. Scott Billak laid down a bunt and had it beaten when the catcher threw it past first base for an error and two runs scored. Ben Copeland singled up the middle scoring two more runs and Drew Saylor then clubbed the ball over the right field fence for a two-run home run. Matt Jackson singled, Waters batting for the second time in the inning reached on an error and then Begley walked to load the bases. After a pitching change, Shane Darnofall's sacrifice fly finished the scoring for Parma. Copeland led the hitting going 3-for-3 with two RBI. Saylor, Waters and Billak had two hits each.
Tomorrow, Parma gets an early start with a 9 am game against Post 142 at Mt. Dora High School. Dave Welch (5-1, 4.52 ERA) gets the start on the mound. On Friday, the team will play again at 9 am against the Rockdale County A's at Lake Sumter Community College and then again either at 12 noon or 5 pm depending on the seedings.
Monday, July 1st. Parma began the
month of July the identical way it concluded June with an outstanding pitching
performance and timely hitting to win for their sixth in a row and 18th time in
21 games by defeating the Northeast Doubledays 7-0 at Walsh Jesuit High School.
It marked the first-ever meeting between the two squads.Lefty Matt McKinnon tossed his second straight complete game shutout in posting his fourth victory against two defeats and lowering his ERA to 3.12. "Mac" allowed three hits and walked two while striking out eight in continuing a weekend of outstanding pitching performances by the MSI staff. Coach Gregg Pelka comments, "Matt threw exactly the way he should to be successful each and every outing. He doesn't overpower you, but makes you hit the ball to the strength of the defense. As long as he doesn't try to mimic the other guys on the staff and maintains his own style he will be successful more often than not."
MSI hit the ball well in the early going but could get nothing started due to numerous baserunning and mental blunders, but finally got it going in the fifth to support McKinnon's efforts. Shane Darnofall led off the inning with a blast to dead center that easily cleared the fence and gave Parma the only run they needed. They didn't stop there though. Kyle Moriarity followed with a sinlge through the left side. He was sacrificed to second by Scott Billak and then scored on a double by Tim Begley. Begley then rode home on a titanic blast to left center by Drew Saylor to push the lead out to 4-0. Matt Jackson then followed with a David Welch-like homer to rightcenter that cleared the fence with inches to spare. Following a pitching change, Dave Waters, Chad Campbell, and Darnofall singled to score two more and complete the onsluaght at 7-0. Billak, Saylor, and Darnofall had two hits apiece to lead nine Parma hitters who had at least one hit in the game. Darnofall knocked in three and Saylor two to lead in the rbi department.
Parma gets a well-deserved day off on Tuesday since their game with the Boys of Summer was cancelled due to the Boys' travel arrangements to a tourney in Indianapolis on Wednesday.
Parma will travel Wednesday morning and play a 4:30 contest in Clermont, Florida against the South Lake (FL) Hawks. Chad Campbell who leads the team in ERA will make the start in the opening game of the Lake County Invitational. MSI will spend five days in Orlando before moving to Winter Haven and the USSSA World Championships beginning on Monday.
Monday, July 1st. Yesterday was an
historic day for Parma MSI in more ways than were explained in the story of the
games. Yes, Parma won it's second tournament within a week and Dan Victor
pitched a no-hitter in the second game but also that victory was the 1000th of
Coach Gregg Pelka's career with Parma MSI. Over the last twenty one years,
Coach P has given the youth of America a chance to better themselves through
baseball by providing this summer team that travels around the country. By
getting the exposure, many players are seen by pro scouts and college
recruiters and are able to move to the next level whether it be a college
education or a pro baseball career. Hats off to Coach Pelka for his
contribution to the game of baseball and the boys who play it. ---- Chris
Sunday, June 30th. Parma MSI made
the last Sunday in June a memroable one as they swept a double header and in
the process made franchise history.In the opener, Parma used a relentless offense and timely relief pitching to turn away Lexington Dixie 16-8 and win the inaugural Boys of Summer Invitiational at Kent State University. MSI avenged an earlier loss to Dixie in the round robin portion of the tourney to win for the fourth consecutive game and sixteenth in their past nineteen games. The victory gives MSI a 6-2 career mark against Dixie in the first meetings since 1997 in Atlanta. It also marks the first time in the storied history of the franchise that an MSI team has won two tournaments in less than seven days. They captured the Hound Dog Classic in Huntington, West Virginia last Sunday and won the Boys' tourney on Sunday.
This game was the reverse of the showdown between the two clubs on Friday morning. Lexington jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first when MSI starter Daniel Thomson strained his elbow and had to come out of the game after only a third of an inning. Joe Fratarcangelo replaced him and pitched out of a first inning jam and then posted two solid innings of relief. Steve Less followed with two strong frames and John Herrera closed it out in the sixth as the Parma offense scored in every frame and bludgeoned Dixie into submission with sixteen runs and a like number of hits.
Down 4-0, Scott Billak and Ben Copeland walked and both came home on consecutive singles by Matt Jackson and Dave Waters to cut the deficit in half. MSI inched closer in the second when Dan Victor walked and rode home on Billak's blast off the top of the left field wall for a double. After Lexington pushed it back out to 5-3 with a third inning run, Drew Saylor singled stole second and scored on Waters' second hit of the game to trim it to 5-4. The fourth frame turned into being the deciding factor in the game. Lexington appeared to stave the MSI challenged when they scored three times to run the lead out to 8-4, but undaunted Parma came roaring back in the home half of the frame. Billak doubled again and stole third. Saylor doubled him home to make it 8-5. Jackson followed with a single to right cutting it to 8-6. Waters singled again and Tim Begley followed with a single to score Jackson to make it 8-7 and Shane Darnofall cleared the sacks with a monstrous triple to the gap to give MSI a 9-8 lead it would never surrender.
Parma kept rolling in the fifth when, with one out, Copeland, Saylor, and Waters all walked. Then Begley cleared then with a double into the rightfield corner to make it 12-8 and later scored on Chad Campbell's double. MSI got the margin for the mercy rule in the sixth when Dan Victor tripled, Scott Billak beat out an infield hit and then Ben Copeland hit a three-run walk-off homer over the wall in right to end it at 16-8. Every MSI starter had at least one hit and eight of them had rbis. Billak and Waters collected three safeties apiece, Saylor, Jackson, and Begley had two knocks.
Then in a rather unique situation MSI travelled to Wadsworth to tussle with the Cleveland Yarddogs (13-6). There was still plenty of offense to go around as they plated fourteen runs on fifteen hits and won going away 14-0. The real story of the contest was the performance by righty Dan Victor who tossed MSI's fifth career no-hitter and the first since 1999 by Chris Lang. Victor's effort was marred by a lone walk and one error but he prevented any Yarddog runner from advancing to second. Victor used only 45 pitches to complete the gem and threw 27 strikes in defeating one of the premier pitchers in the area, Brian Hoyer of the Yarddogs. Victor evens his mark at 1-1 and lowers his ERA to 5.00.
Offensively, Ben Copeland and Chad Campbell had a three-hit contests. Each hitter also knocked in three. Copeland a homer away from the cycle and Campbell with two doubles amonf his hits. Scott Billak and Tim Begley also had two hits each.
MSI will conclude their pre-Florida schedule on Monday when they host the NorthEast Doubledays at Walsh Jesuit High beginning at 6:15. Matt McKinnon (3-2, 3.94) will get the start against the first-year club.
Saturday, June 29th. Saturday dawned
two of the best pitching performances of the year for Parma MSI as they
finished the round robin portion of the Boys of Summer Invitational at 4-1 and
now await a foe to be determined Sunday morning in the championship game to be
played at Kent State University at 1:30 p.m. Cam Betourne took the mound in the opener against the highly-touted offense of the Columbus Cobras who were averaging nearly ten runs a game this season. Betourne gave them all they could handle and more as he dominated the Cobras and took a no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth. The lefty walked the first hitter of the frame (his sixth of the game), then struck out the next batter (also one of six K's). The no-hitter went by the board when Swearingen laced a single through the right side of the infield to destroy the no-hitter. Betourne regrouped after allowing a run scoring after that and got the last two outs on strikeouts to register his second win in three decisions and lower his era to 4.64. Cam was the winning pitcher in last weekend Hound Dog Classic Championship game in West Virginia.
Offensively there were plenty of stars as every member of MSI's starting line-up contributed at least one hit. Matt Jackson had three safeties and two rbi and Drew Saylor had two knocks and two rbi as well.
In Game two against the Lexington Dixie 17s, John Herrera set out to better Betourne's performance and he did just that tossing a shutout in a 8-0 win. Herrera yielded six hits and had someone on base every inning but showed great in stranding all threats at least 90 feet away from paydirt. Herrera walked one and struck out five in running his record to 4-0 and lowering his era to 1.28.
Once again the offense was plentiful as Saylor and Jackson each had two hits. Jackson knocked in three and Saylor one to provide all the support Herrera would need. The remaining rbis came from Dave Waters, Kyle Moriarity and Greg Svhilik.
The win is MSI's third in a row and their fifteenth in their last eighteen and now stand at 22-9 heading into a rather unique doubleheader tomorrow. The will play in the title game at Kent State at 1:30 with Daniel Thomson (2-1, 4.80) getting the start.
The opponent will not be decided until a round of games in the morning. The possibilities are the Boys of Summer 18s (host team), Lexington Dixie 18s, or the Kentucky Colonels. The back half of the doubleheader is a last minute schedule addition against the Cleveland Yarddogs at Wadsworth High at 6:30. Dan Victor goes in that one.
Friday, June 28th. Day Two of the
Boys of Summer Invitational saw Parma MSI split a pair of decisions and move to
2-1 in the tourney headed for the third and deciding day of games in the round
robin portion of action. In the opener, MSI came out swinging and jumped out quickly to a 5-0 through an inning and a half at Kent State University against Lexington Dixie 18s. Ringing base hits all over Gene Michael Field, MSI drew first blood in the top of the initial frame when Scott Billak, Ben Copeland, and Drew Saylor stroked consecutive hard hit singles off Lexington starter Staton. Matt Jackson then walked and Tim Begley doubled two runs home for a 3-0 lead after one. The bats kept churning in the second after two were out when Billak singled, stole second, Copeland walked, and Saylor doubled to rightcenter to score both for an apparently commanding five-run cushion. Little did anyone know that Staton would settle down and allow only a pair of base hits the rest of the way.
Meanshile, MSI starter Joe Fratarcangelo struggled mightily with his control from the outset. He loaded the bases on no hits in the first and squiggled out of it unscathed. He wasn't so lucky in other frames. A solo tally in the second cut it to 5-1 after two and then three more scores in the thrid made it 5-4 Parma afte three and singled the end of Fratarcangelo. The Garfield Hts. native yielded only one hit, but walked three and hit five batters in his three innings of work. Releiver Steve Less failed to fare much better as he was touched up for two runs in the fourth to relenquish the lead to Lexington 6-5. The Kentucky crew also added runs in sixth and seventh to register the final score. Billak had three hits to lead the offense for Parma while Saylor had two hits and three rbis. Tim Belgey also knocked in a pair. The defeat marked the first time in four tries that Lexington has been able to defeat MSI since the career series began in 1996.
Game Two was probably one of the best played games of the young season as MSI took on the Kentucky Colonels who are led by former major league pitcher, Walt Terrell. The game featured a tremendous pitching matchup between MSI lefty Dave Welch and 6'7" Kentucky righthander, Dan Harmon. Parma struck first when Billak and Copeland walked to open the game and Drew Saylor hit an infield single. Dave Waters then laced a single to center to give MSI a 1-0 lead.
Welch, who struggles in the first inning in most starts, was most vulnerable on this day again. He gave up singles to open the game, but the initial runner was thrown out trying to steal. Then, on an 0-2 pitch, Grogan hit an opposite field home run that cleared the 370 sign in left field to give the Colonels their only lead at 2-1. It remained that way until the fifth as the two hurlers were magnificant. Parma tied the contest with a Billak walk. He moved to second on a wild pitch and eventually was forced home when Dave Waters was hit-by-a-pitch with the bases juiced. Waters had three rbis on one hit in the game.
Then came the fateful seventh when MSI won the contest seizing the advantage on two errors by a Kentucky outfield to put the game away. With one out, Saylor was hit by reliever Green. Matt Jackson then singled through the rightside and when the rightfielder misplayed the ball the runners moved up to swecond and third respectively. The outifelder then compounded the problem by trying to throw behind Jackson and threw the ball away allowing Saylor to score and Jackson to motor to third. He later scored the final run on Waters' sac fly to center.
Meanwhile, Dave Welch was stellar in scattering seven hits (only three after the first), didn't walk anyone and struck out five in winning for the fifth time in six decisions. "Dave really showed what his make-up is out there today," stated Gregg Pelka. "He displayed poise, control of himself and his ability, and a dogged determination not to lose. PItchers set the tone of a game so much with how they handle themselves in adversity."
Day three of the Boys of Summer Invitiational continues Saturday with two games at the University of Akron. At 10:00 this morning, Cam Betourne will toss against the Columbus Cobras with MSI leading the all-time series 5-1. Then at 4:00, John Herrera will flip the pill against the Lexington Dixie 17s. Two victories today would put MSI in a strong position to advance to the title game on Sunday at 1:30 at Kent State University pending the outcome of other action.
Please note a few other changes in the schedule for MSI in the next couple of days. There has been a game added on Sunday evening at 6:15 at Wadsworth High against the Cleveland Yarddogs. Monday night's game vs. the NE Doubledays will be played at Walsh Jesuit High at 6:15 and then Tuesday's contest against the Boys of Summer will be at Wadsworth once again starting at 6:00.
Thursday, June 27th. Parma MSI began
their second tournament of the season on the same victorious note they finished
last week's Hound Dog Classic when they opened the Boys of Summer Invitational
at the University of Akron by beating the Boys 17s 3-2 behind the pitching of
Chad Campbell. Campbell raised his record to a impressive 4-1 and lowered his
glittering ERA to 0.47 as he scattered six Boys' hits and yielded no earned
runs in going the distance for the fourth time this summer. The New Mexico
native walked two and struck out a season-high six in teh victory.
The win gives MSI two in a row and twelve of their past fourteen and raises the overall mark to 19-8. Boys had a well pitched game going from Reynolds depsite MSI getting on the board in the first when Scott Billak walked, stole second, moved to third on Drew Saylor's infield hit, and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Tim Begley. The Boys tied it in the third at 1-1 when a Campbell throwing error contributed to the run, but MSI bounced back in their half of the fourth inning off Reynolds when Shane Darnofall singled was advanced when Kyle Moriarity walked. Joe Fratarcangelo was then safe on an infield error loading the bases with no outs. Scott Billak then lined into a fielder's choice to drive home Greg Svihlik, who ran for Darnofall. Then a Ben Copeland singled reloaded the sacks and a walk to Saylor forcing in the third and deciding run. The Boys scored a run in the seventh to make things interesting, but Campbell shut down the threat when Darnofall tossed out the tying runner trying to steal second.
Parma will now take on Lexington Dixie at 9:00 at Kent State University with Joe Fratarcangelo getting the start and then they travel to Univ. of Akron at 1:00 to meet the Columbus Cobras. David Welch will go in the nightcap.
Wednesday, June 26th. Revenge is
sweet as Parma MSI avenged a first week defeat at the hands of Elyria on
Wednesday and they did it in convincing style with a 23-0 victory at Kent State
University's Gene Michael Field. The win breaks a modest two-game losing streak and gives MSI their eleventh win in their last thirteen contests. They split the season series with Elyria and lead the overall tally 8-3. Matt McKinnon was the star on the hill as he tossed a four-hitter to raise his mark to 3-2 and lower his ERA to 3.94. The lefty failed to walk anyone in going the distance for his first shutout of the season and he fanned four.
Parma scored no less than five runs in each of their four at-bats and smacked 17 hits in the process. Twelve of the fourteen batters that had plate appearances for MSI had safeties. The sticks leading the way were Drew Saylor with three hits, Matt Jackson, Steve Less, and Chad Campbell each had two knocks. Nine different players had at least two rbi and two more knocked in runs. MSI had all aspects of the offense running smoothly as they also stole six bases.
Thursday is the opening round of the Boys of Summer Tourney. MSI takes on the Boys 17s for the third time this season at University of Akron at 6:00. Chad Campbell will do the tossing. MSI leads the season and career series 2-1.
Tuesday, June 25th. Parma MSI
returned home on Tuesday and for the second consecutive day met an undefeated
opponent, Retif Oil from New Orleans, Louisiana who came into the contest 14-0
and the 2002 Double A State Champions. Unfortunately, for the Parma crew they neglected to show up and played their most uninspired contest of the year and suffered a thumping at the hands of the Cajuns, 13-6. That marks the second loss in a row after reeling off ten straight wins and bumps their mark to 17-8. It also marked first ever meeting between MSI and a team from Louisiana.
Starting pitcher Dan Victor struggled from the outset with his control and fell behind most of the hitters in the early going and the visitors made them pay for it. Retif collected two walks, two hits and a sacrifice fly to score four runs in the first and never looked back even though Parma's offensive made a run at them a couple of times. MSI got on the board in the first as well when Scott Billak singled and then scored all the way from first on Ben Copeland's single when the centerfielder was slow in getting ball in from the outfield. Head Coach Pelka says, "That was probably the highlight of our day right there. We just didn't show up to play. Credit Coach Morreau and his club. They were ready to play and stuck it to us even though they travelled. We were emabarassed at home and that does not happen to a quality club more than one time a season."
Three more runs in the Louisiana second made it a 7-1 game. Parma immediately bounced back with two tallies to cut the lead to 7-3 after two when Tim Begley was hit by a pitch, Chad Campbell singled and Joe Fratarcangelo drove them both home with a ringing single to right center. The lethargic MSI defense collapsed in the third and allowed a run without the benefit of a hit to make the score 8-3. It stayed that way until the home half of the fifth when Fratarcangelo tripled to rightcenter, Billak singled, stole second, was out trying to advance on a Copeland infield bouncer. Copeland then stole second and later scored in a Begley single. Dan Victor was replaced by lefty David Welch to start the sixth and the Cajun bats spanked the Aussie for five runs (all earned) on six hits to put the contest out of reach. MSI scored a token run in the bottom portion of the sixth to complete the scoring on a Campbell single, an error, and a Copeland single.
Parma's offense still banged out 10 hits, but were victims of shodding baserunning most of the night. Copeland, Begley, Campbell, and Fratarcangelo each had two hits with Copeland and Frat also knocking in a pair each. Victor took the loss in his first decision of the season. He tossed the first five innings and gave up five hits, eight runs (five earned), walked four and struck out six. Welch in one frame was touched up for six hits and five runs (all earned).
"We got beat in every facet of the game," stated Pelka. "Our pitchers need to throw strikes and set the tempo of the game. We just moved too slowly for my liking all night long. Our baserunning was hideous and our defensive positioning and intelligence might have been the worst in many years. We have got to correct that and quit relying on our offense to bail us out constantly."
Parma is back at Kent State tonight once again for a 6:00 start against Elyria who defeated MSI in the first meeting a few weeks ago. Matt McKinnon will hurl for MSI in hopes of evening the season series and righting the ship.
Monday, June 24th. Parma MSI
concluded their weekend trip on Monday night in Columbus by splitting a
doubleheader with perrenial national power, the Ohio Thunder, at Otterbein
College winning the first game 9-8 and then falling in the second one 8-6. The
victory upped Parma to a season-high ten-game win streak before it came to a
screeching halt in the nightcap. MSI now leads the career series against the
Thunder 3-2 and the two teams will meet in mid-July up in Northeastern Ohio.
Game One saw plenty of offense and woefully void of defense as the two clubs combined for ten errors and only two earned runs. Two MSI errors in the home half of the first allowed the Thunder to take the early 1-0 lead before Parma came back with a two spot in the second. Chad Campbell walked, Tim Begley was safe on an error sending Campbell to third. Begley then stole second. Joe Fratarcangelo hi a sac fly to score Campbell and tie the game. Scott Billak then followed with a single thru the left side to plate Begley and give MSI a 2-1 lead.
That cushoin was short-lived as Ohio Thunder tied in the home half of the frame. In the top of the third, Parma struck hard for five runs. Matt Jackson walked as did Campbell and Begley to load the bases with two outs. Fratarcangelo then singled in two and Billak did likewise and he motored all the way to third on an outfield miscue. Billak then scored on Ben Copeland's triple to dead center. Parma led 7-2 before the Thunder started pecking away against starter John Herrera and eventually tied it at 7-7 after four.
Parma reclained the lead in fifth when Copeland doubled and came home on Drew Saylor's single. Parma added an insurance tally (and the game-winner) in the top of the seventh on three straight singles by Billak, Copeland, and Saylor. The Thunder rallied in the bottom of the seventh against Herrera by coaxing back-to-back walks to start the frame. A fielder's choice and then an infield error made thescore 9-8 and MSI went to the bullpen and Chad Campbell came on. The righty gave up a single and then enticed a double-play grounder to end the game.
The second contest saw better defense but lots of extra-base hits as the two teams combined for 10 doubles, a triple, and a home run in twenty safeties. This time Parma jumped ahead first with a Copeland single, a stolen base, a Saylor triple and a Waters' double and a 2-0 lead. Their offense would go dormant until the sixth as the Thunder rallied to build a 7-2 cushion off MSI starter Daniel Thomson (2-1). Parma came back in the sixth on a Copeland single, Saylor double and a sac fly to the wall in right by Matt Jackson. Thunder added a run in the sixth which they would need as Parma came back with a flurry in the seventh. Tim Belgey was plunked by a pitch to begin the frame and moved up on pinch hitter Dan Victor's single. They both scored on Copeland's double and he came on on Saylor's single. They had the tying run at the plate when an infield bouncer ended their hopes.
Parma returns "home" in the adopted edifice (Gene Micheal Stadium) at Kent State to take on Retif Oil from New Orleans, Louisiana tongiht at 6. Danny Victor will get the start.
Sunday, June 23rd. Someone better
tell John Madden to warm up the vocal chords as Ace isn't the only hardware
he'll be talking about as of Sunday. Parma parlayed an outstanding pitching
performance by lefty Cameron Betourne and timely hitting by Ben Copeland, Drew
Saylor, and Matt Jackson to post a 4-3 win in the title game of the 2002 Hound
Dog Classic over the host Huntington Hounds at Marshall University. MSI stayed
perfect in the five-game event and has now taken the season series from the
Hounds two games to one and lead the all-time series 6-2.MSI drew first blood on the scoreboard in the third inning when they reached Winthrop pitching recruit Honce for back-to-back singles by Scott Billak and Copeland. The big blow of the frame occurred when Matt Jackson hit an 0-2 mistake off the wall in rightcenter for a bases-clearing triple to give Parma a 2-0 lead. The third run came home on the next pitch when Dave Waters bounced the ball to the right side to knock it in. Huntington answered immediately in the home half of the inning with two singles, a walk and a sac fly to plate one. Betourne then induced a ground out to Saylor to end the threat. Parma leading 3-1 after three.
It stayed that way until the fifth when Billak walked, Copeland singled and Saylor followed with a sharp single through the left side of the infield scoring Billak and stretching the lead to 4-1. It was a run that would loom large as the game concluded. Huntington touched up Betourne for a solo run in the fifth cutting the margin to two. Then they made the big push in the seventh when a walk, stolen base, throwing error and ground out cut it to one with two outs. The Hounds continued to show why they are the cream of the Mountaineer State crop when Honce singled and it brought the potential winning run to the plate. Betourne coaxed Steele into a pop-up to the sure-handed Saylor for the win and the first Hound Dog Classic Championship for MSI in their initial tourney appearance.
Offensively, Copeland had three hits, Saylor had two, and Matt Jackson those all important two RBIs on the big smash in the third. The story of the contest was Cam Betourne though as he went the distance in the 88 degree heat and shut down a potent Hound offense that was batting nearly .400 against Parma after the first two meetings. Betourne scattered six hits and walked three and struck out three.
"It was so impressive to see Cam out there exuding positive energy to the rest of our club. He was not going to be denied and pitch in control the entire contest," stated Coach Gregg Pelka. "Pete had command of his breaking ball and change with allowed him to throw it at anytime. The tone was set when he threw a 2-0 change for strike to the first hitter of the game and then came back to get a strikeout on a full count curve. You just don't see that in guys this age. It was impressive!"
Next up for MSI as this road trip concludes on Monday is a showdown with the ever-powerful Ohio Thunder at Otterbein College. John Herrera and Daniel Thomson get the assignments in games one and two respectively. Parma leads the abbreviated career series with the two clubs 2-1. MSI returns home on Tuesday to tangle with New Orleans (LA) Retif Oil.
Saturday, June 22nd. Parma MSI swept
a doubleheader,10-1 & 9-5, on Saturday to advance their winning streak to
eight games and move into the Championship Game of the Hound Dog Classic in
Huntington, West Virginia on Sunday afternoon. In the opener, David Welch tossed a complete game three-hitter allowing only a first-inning solo home run for his fourth win in five decisions this summer. Welch was in command most of the way and threw an amazing 50 strikes in 68 pitches in posting the triumph. Welchy has now made his second straight strong outing and lowered his era to 3.96.
Offensively, MSI had all kinds of trouble getting strikes off three Charleston pitchers and could collect only six base hits. They were the welcome recepients of three hit-by-pitches and nine bases on balls. The delay in receiving quality pitches seemed to frustrate the Parma sticks. Dave Waters led the charge with two hits and a couple of RBI. Kyle Moriarity also had three RBI to lead the charge. MSI did steal six bases in seven attempts as the running game has begun to surface as a part of the hitting arsenal.
In the second contest, Parma took the lead in the first after two were out. Scott Billak collected the first of his two hits, stole second, and scored when Drew Saylor hit his first of two doubles in the game. South Shore came right back with two of their own off MSI starter Joe Fratarcangelo to lead 2-1 after one. For the second straight game MSI plated five tallies in the second frame to retake a lead they would never relinquish. Chad Campbell singled to lead off the frame and after moving to second on a wild pitch advanced to third when Dave Waters doubled to short right. Ben Copeland then walked to load the sacks and Tim Begley singled to leftcenter to drive home two. Scott Billak then followed Begley with a double off the left field wall knocking out starter Miller. Saylor greeted the new pitcher, Meenach, with a single to third that scored Billak.
South Shore inched its way back into the game with two fourth inning runs to cut the margin to 6-4. Fratarcangelo lasted through five frames and picked up the win yielding the mound to Steve Less in the sixth. Parma meanwhile added a solo run in the fifth on a walk, stolen base (one of six more in the game for MSI) and Ben Copeland single. MSI scored three more in the sixth on a couple of errors, Saylor's double, a walk and a wild pitch. Less gave up an unearned run in the home half of the last inning and chalked up the DH sweep heading into tomorrow Championship game.
Saylor was the big stick with 3 hits and RBIs. Two-hit games by Copeland and Billak and a multi-RBI performance by Begley, Billak and Saylor turned the trick. MSI now 4-0 in the tourney and winners of eight straight (a season high) await the winner of Saturday nights' game between the host team, the Huntington Hounds and the South Charlestion club that MSI beat on Friday. Cameron Betourne (0-1, 7.17) will get the nod regardless of who the opponent is. Then it's on to Columbus for a Monday twin with the Ohio Thunder.
Friday, June 21st. Parma MSI began
their weekend in West Virginia by chalking up their fiftth and sixth
consecutive triumphs in sweeping a pair of Mountaineer opponents by scores of
8-0 amd 10-5. The six straight wins were a combination of solid pitching and
timely hitting and speed to run their record to 13-6 heading into a DH tomorrow
in Day Two of the Hound Dog Classic. In the opener, Chad Campbell was absolutely brilliant in dazzling the Oakhill (WV) Bash on three hits and shutting them out for his third win in four decisions. Campbell coasted the entire way even though his "stuff" wasn't as strong as he normally likes it. "Chad told me that his arm was dead when he came in from the pen, said Head Coach Gregg Pelka. "Its nice to have an arm that allows you to toss an 81-pitch complete game and not have your best stuff!" Campbell lowered his team leading ERA to 0.59 in 22 innings of work.
The hitting stars in the opener were not plentiful but the offense did get good representation from Ben Copeland (4-5 with 4 rbi), Dan Victor (3-4, rbi), Scott Billak (2-3 with 3 sb) and Shane Darnofall (2-4). The numbers were far more impressive then the results since most of the knocks were of the infield variety and Coach Pelka turned the team speed loose against the Bash.
The nightcap appeared to be a replay of the first game when MSI plated four runs on South Charelston in the top half of the first inning. With two outs, Drew Saylor singled, Dave Waters doubled down the left field line moving Saylor to thrid. Matt Jackson then walked and everyone moved up on a wild pitch which scored Saylor. Shane Darnofall then followed with a two-run single an he later scored on a wild pitch.
Up 4-0 before ever taking the mound, MSI lefty Matt McKinnon was trying to build upon his fine outing in Atlanta last weekend and even his record in four decisions. Mac had all kinds of trouble finding the plate in the first when he gave up three walks, two hits and a sacrifice fly to tie the score after one. Parma took the lead for good in the second when Scott Biullak doubled to left center and eventually scored on a Jackson single. Solo tallies in the next two frames pushed the lead to 7-4 after four innings. Kyle Moriarity was hit by a pitch to lead off the third, Billak singled him to second and then back to back walks to Copeland and Saylor forced in the run. The fourth frame saw Chad Campbell reach on a wild pitch when striking out. He stole second, and moved up on a wild pitch before scoring on a Moriarity sac fly. MSI put the game away in the fifth off the second South Charleston arm when Billak greeted him with his third homer of the year to left field 372-feet away. Then Copeland singled, Saylor doubled to score Copeland and Saylor touched paydirt in Jackson's knock. Potter rounded out the scoring against McKinnon by stroking a solo homer in the seventh that capped the scoring at 10-5.
Parma is back in action on Saturday at Wayne High when they send David Welch (3-1, 4.67) against the Charleston Indians at 3:30 and then at 7:00 Joe Fratarcangelo (1-1, 1.24) will hurl against the South Shore Sox. Two wins puts MSI in the Hound Dog title game on Sunday.
Wednesday, June 19th. Parma MSI
chalked up their fourth win in a row as they bludgeoned Fielder's Choice, 12-3,
at Baldwin-Wallace on Wednesday. Parma with the victory ups their overall mark
to 11-6 as they prepare to head to Huntington, West Vriginia for the weekend
and the Hound Dog Classic. MSI wins the season series from Fielder's Choice two
games to one and leads the overall series, 5-2. MSI used a potent offense to secure this tilt and also got fine pitching from righty Daniel Thomson after a rather shaky start. For the third straight start, Thomson struggled in the first frame and the opponent made him pay. He gave up two runs and two hits to go with two bases on balls for the contest in the first inning. Thomson would settle down and allow only a third inning single to John Beeler and a fifth inning scratch hit to Ribar the rest of the way. Steve Less tossed a scoreless seventh to finish things up.
On the offensive side of things, the hits and runs were early and often once MSI got the bats moving in the second. Already down 2-0, Parma tied the game on a walk to Dave Waters, a single by Shane Darnofall moved up Waters who later scored on a passed ball. Chad Campbell then stroked a base knock to plate Darnofall for the tie. MSI took the lead for good in the home half of the third. Scott Billak doubled down the left field line and moved to third on a throwing error. Ben Copeland then picked up his first MSI RBI with an infield ground out. Drew Saylor followed with a single, moved to second on a walk to Matt Jackson with two outs. They both stole the next base and Darnofall doubled to left center scoring both and give MSI a 5-2 cushion.
In the fifth, Jackson singled and went to second on another wild pitch, he scored on an infield error off the bat of Tim Begley and then after back to back walks to load the bases, Scott Billak plated a couple with a solid single to center. The final scoring marks came in the sixth when Saylor singled, Jackson singled, and Darnofall tripled the pair in. Begley then reached on an error and later scored on Billak's sacrifice fly. Scott Billak, Drew Saylor, and Shane Darnofall each smashed three hits. Matt Jackson also had two hits. RBI leaders were Darnofall with four and Billak with three.
Parma now takes a day off and travels to Huntington, West Virginia for the Hound Dog Classic. They open on Friday afternoon at 3:30 against the Beckley Bash who are 17-4. Chad Campbell (2-1, 0.93) will get the starting assignment and then at 6:00 Matt McKinnon (1-2, 4.76) will toe the slab against South Charleston in the nightcap. It is the first meeting ever between MSI and each team. They will take on the Bash later this summer in New Market, TN.
Tuesday, June 18th. Parma MSI's game
with Becdir Construction has been cancelled and no make-up date annouced since
the Youngstown team had league commitments to honor following the weekend of
rain there. That marks the second a game between Parma MSI-Becdir was cancelled
this season due to scheduling conflicts in the Youngstown
league.MSI is at home Wednesday night when they take on Fielder's Choice for the third and final time this season beginning at 6:15. Daniel Thomson (1-0, 4.54) will get the start in the final "home" game being played at Baldwin-Wallace this season. The school has decided to tear up the infield and redo it beginning on June 24. Parma MSI will vary the locations of their remaining home games so please stay tuned to the web page for details.
Sunday, June 16th. Georgia Parma MSI
completed their Georgian swing on Sunday in rather unique fashion. In a game
that seemed to last forever, they pounded the East Cobb Astros into submission
by the score of 15-12. The victory breaks a three-game Parma losing streak and
tallies their first win on the weekend in the Peach State.As has become a regular occurrence in the early going of this season, MSI jumped out to a first inning lead. Scott Billak was hit by a pitch and stole second. Tim Begley was then walked and so was Dave Waters loading the bases. After the second out, Shane Darnofall cleared the sacks with a double to the wall in rightcenter field. Parma led 3-0 heading to the bottom of the first with Cameron Betourne on the hill. Betourne having control problems for the second start was pitching from behind for most of the inning and had to give in to hitters. The Astros answered with four runs on four hits, an error, a passed ball, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch.
Down 4-3 in the second, MSI again encountered the loud sticks of the Georgians. Betourne pitching much better in the second couldn't escape unscathed. He walked four and gave up a double and the lead ballooned to 7-3. Coach Pelka commented, "Cam came out and seemed to be riding an emotional roller coaster in the first. He once again had excellent stuff but has to take it to the mound with him instead of leaving it in the pen. Once he settled down he pitched like we know he can. Its a great opportunity for him to build upon an gutsy performance that kept us in the game. I am confident we will see continued improvement in him each and every time he goes out there."
Parma responded with some offense of their own in the top of the fourth as they pounded Atlanta Braves' draftee Clayton for the second inning. Joe Fratarcangelo singled and stole second, Kyle Moriarity then was hit by a pitch, they both moved up on a throwing error. Fratarcangelo then scored on an infield single by Billak. Begley then walked to load the bases. Drew Saylor bounced out scoring Moriarity, and Waters grounded out scoring Billak. The big hit of the frame was Matt Jackson's triple to left center to score Saylor and Waters.
A tiring Betourne threw well but was having trouble adjusting to the "narrow" strike zone and yielded four more runs in the home half of the fourth before being replaced by Dave Welch. Welch seized control of the contest and rebounded after yesterday's struggle nicely. He ended up going the final 3.1 innings giving up only an unearned run.
MSI scored their final six runs in the fifth when with two outs and two on the scoring machine took over. Saylor singled home one tally and Waters singled to load the sacks. Jackson then singled two home, Darnofall walked, and Chad Campbell doubled home the final two scores.
That set the stage for game two which never officially developed. During an argument in the first contest the umpires ejected Astros' head coach Ryan Coe. Following the first contest the Umps refused to work the second game and forfeited the contest in favor of Parma MSI. The wild finish gave MSI a sweep on the day and four-game split of their Georgia trip. They now have a 6-2 career mark over the Astros. Joe Fratarcangelo is the receipient of the "free" win. Parma heads home for a road game on Monday against the Diamond Boys at Walsh Jesuit High beginning at 6:15. John Herrera will get the starting assignment.
Saturday, June 15th. Georgia Parma
MSI began their Georgian weekend by dropping two contests to defending National
Champions, the East Cobb Yankees by scores of 7-3 and 23-4 to even the career
series at 7-7. The first game was a great contest as Matt McKinnon took the hill and befuddled the Yankees for five innings before the team laden with draft picks struck for three runs in the frame. The lefty did a commendable job mixing his pitches but failed to avoid losing for the second time in three decisions in going the distance. McKinnon yielded eleven hits and seven earned runs as East Cobb raised their record to 15-3. Offensively MSI rode the power of Dave Waters as he plated all three runs with his third and fourth homers of the season. The solo shot came in the seventh inning and was a monsterous blast of Alabama-bound righty Alan Ponder. Waters has now hit three in his last two games. Tim Begley also two safeties as the Parma crew, depleted for the day due to all-star games back in Ohio, still managed to smash eight hits off first class arms of East Cobb.
Game two was anything but competitive after Parma finished batting in the top of the first. Parma was staked to a 2-0 lead when Begley singled, was sacrificed up by Joe Fratarcangelo, scored on Waters' double and Matt Jackson singled Waters home. Dave Welch, with 1.02 era, took the mound and got battered around from almost the opening pitch. The Australian southpaw with his normally pinpoint control was abused for eight runs in the first (four earned) on eight hits. The second was even more unkind as East Cobb kept right on scoring and plated eleven more off Welch and righthanded reliever, Dan Victor. The second inning marked the largest single scoring inning by an MSI opponent in the team's 22-year history. The same holds true for the largest margin of defeat (19 runs). It breaks the old mark of 17 in a 17-0 loss to the same Yankees in Omaha, Nebraska in 1999. Focusing on the bright spots of the marathon contest, MSI managed seven different players into the hit column and got RBIs from Waters, Jackson, Moriarity, and Svihlik.
The loss drops MSI to 7-6 and stretches the losing streak to three games as they travel to Southern Tech to battle the East Cobb Astros at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. MSI leads the career series with the Astros 4-2 with the last meeting coming in 2000. Cameron Betourne tosses the opener and Joe Fratarcangelo will pitch the nightcap.
Friday, June 14th. The heavens opened
up as Parma MSI landed in Atlanta to open a weekend series against the East
Cobb teams causing the cancellation of Friday night's contest against the East
Cobb Tigers in Marietta. No make-up date has been announced. Parma will try to
get the weekend started on Saturday morning when they take on a national power,
the East Cobb Yankees in a doubleheader beginning at 11:00. Matt McKinnon (1-1,
2.08) will now get the initial start in Georgia and will be followed to the
bump by fellow lefty Dave Welch (2-0, 1.02) against the Yankees.
Thursday, June 13th. Thursday
afternoon Parma MSI renewed their series with the neighbors from Appalachia,
the Huntington Hounds at Baldwin-Wallace. The two games were a contrast in
styles and outcomes as the two teams put on a hitting display that would rival
anyone in the area and split the contests with Parma taking the opener 5-3 and
Huntington rebounding in the nightcap to secure a 12-11 win in nine innings.
Game one was all about right handed MSI pitcher Chad Campbell. The 6-4 hurler scattered eight hits in going the distance in raising his mark to 2-0 and lowering his era to 0.50 even though he gave up three unearned runs. Campbell didn't walk anyone and struck out three in tossing an 88-pitch contest. "Chad was in control the entire game," stated Coach Pelka. "He was able to throw all his pitches in all counts which really keep the Hounds' hitters off balance. They are a great hitting club and his efforts were obvious."
Parma scored three times in the first inning with one out when Tim Begley singled, Drew Saylor walked, and Dave Waters singled to load the bases. Begley then scored on a wild pitch with the other runners moving up. Matt Jackson then bounced to shortstop to drive in Saylor and Waters scored when the infielder threw the ball away. With the score 3-1 in the third, Jackson singled, Joe Fratarcangelo did likewise and Kyle Moriarity walked. Greg Svihlik then coaxed a base on balls to force in Jackson and allow Parma to reclaim a three-run lead (4-1). Huntington then cut the margin to 4-3 before Scott Billak triple and a Begley single concluded the scoring in the victory. Billak, Begley, and Waters collected two hits apiece in the winning effort.
The nightcap saw Steve Less coming off a state runner-up finish for Elyria Catholic High School on Sunday take the mound for the initial time in '02. The gods did not smile on the righty as he was battered for eleven runs and thirteen hits in his three innings of work. He left the conest down 11-2 after three. The lone brightspot for MSI was a pair of second inning tallies which originated from a Waters' single, Jackson triple, and Shane Darnofall single. MSI began the long road of coming back in this one in the fourth frame when with two outs and the bases empty Jackson singled for his second hit of the game, an infield error allowed Campbell to reach safely and Darnofall brought them both home on a double. That made the game 11-4 after four innings.
In the meantime two Parma relievers, Dave Welch and Cameron Betourne were shutting down the potent Hounds' offense to a whimper. In the sixth Parma continued the comeback. Dave Waters led off the frame with a towering home run to right field into a steady wind for his second homer of the young season. Jackson then singled, Darnofall tripled, Dan Victor singled and Billak tripled and all of a sudden it was a game at 11-8 Hounds after six. The Parma seventh saw a pair of walks to Saylor and Waters to open the inning. Jackson then crushed his fourth hit of the game (a single) to score Saylor and make it 11-9. A pair of ground outs, the last one by Darnofall, plated Waters and cut the deficit to 11-10 with two outs and Jackson at third. Fratarcangelo came up big with a crisp base hit to center to tie the game and make the improable comeback a reality for Parma. Both teams threatened in the eighth unsuccessfully and when Chad Campbell came in to relieve in the ninth the Hounds got to anemic singles and a wild pitch to win the game. MSI threatened in the bottom of the inning but left the bases loaded.
Matt Jackson and Shane Darnofall each went 4 for 5. Darnofall also knocked in 5 runs. Drew Saylor and Dave Waters also had two hits apiece in this game. Parma leads the all-time series now 7-2 with a possible showdown in the title game of Hound Dog Classic next weekend in West Virginia.
Friday MSI travels to Hot-Lanta for a weekend showdown with the East Cobb clubs that consists of five games. First up will be the East Cobb Tigers on Friday night at 6:00 in the Marietta Complex. It marks the meeting ever between the Tigers and MSI. Lefty Matt McKinnon (1-1, 2.08) will take the mound. This is Parma's first visit to Georgia in four years. The rest of weekend will be spent locking horns with the likes of the EC Yankees who sport seven drafted players in their everyday lineup and the East Cobb Astros who were runners up in the NABF Nationals last season.
Wednesday, June 12th. Wednesday
night's showdown between two of the more potent offenses in the area took place
at Baldwin-Wallace between MSI and the Diamond Boys. When the dusk had settled
and sun had set, the two teams had put on an excellent display of baseball and
the game was suspended after eight innings tied at 7-7. The two teams are scheduled to meet two more times this season, but no completion date has been scheduled. The Diamond Boys took an early lead, as for the second game in a row, MSI yielded runs in the first inning. A walk and a pair of singles off Parma's Daniel Thomson loaded the bases with no outs. Then back-to-back sacrifice flies and a double by Monzel resulted in a 3-0 deficit for the home team before they even brought out of the sticks.
Parma got on the board in the home half of the second inning when John Herrera led off the frame with an infield single. Herrera was replaced by Shane Darnofall when he strained his knee. The righthander is not expected to miss his next start though. Darnofall moved up on a wild pitch and later crossed the plate on a Dave Waters single to cut the lead to 3-1.
Diamond Boys got the run right back in the top of the third on a walk, hit batsman, and a Vogliano single to push the cushion back to three, 4-1. MSI came right back with a run in the bottom of the inning when Scott Billak doubled and later scored on a Joe Fratarcangelo grounder.
While Daniel Thomson was settling down and holding the Diamond Boys scoreless for a few frames Parma cut the lead to 4-3 on a Darnofall single and Waters' double. The score stayed that way until the sixth when Thomson tired and gave way to Matt McKinnon in relief, but not before Keller singled, Schaffer doubled him home and later scored on a suicide squeeze. That made the MSI deficit 6-3 heading to the home half of the sixth. Parma responded strongly as they had spent most of the days battering Diamond Boys' starter Echan and didn't have anything to show for hard-hit line drive after line drive. Shane Darnofall collected his second of third singles to lead off the inning and was advanced by a walk to Chad Campbell and single by Drew Saylor. Darnofall later scored on a Kyle Moriarity sacrifice fly to make it 6-4 and Campbell scored on a throwing error and another throwing miscue plated Saylor to tie the game at 6-6 headed to the seventh.
McKinnon turned away a Diamond Boys' two-on no out threat and MSI went quietly which forced an extra frame. Trisceri led off coaxing a walk on a 3-2 pitch. Was sacrificed up and after a pop out scored on a PIerce double off the rightfield wall. Parma dodged a potential lethal bullet though when pinch runner Bednar tried to score from third on a pitch that got away from catcher Matt Jackson later in the inning. Jackson recovered and tossed to pitcher Matt McKinnon who tagged Bednar out at the plate.
Down by one in the extra session MSI got a ringing triple from Saylor on an 0-2 pitch to dead center. Saylor then rode home easliy when Waters belted a shot to left center of the third Diamond Boys' pitcher (Schaffer) also on an 0-2 pitch to tie the game. Waters was thrown out trying to advance to third on a bunt and MSI failed to threaten again in the frame.
Coach Gregg Pelka commented after the game, "That was an outstanding effort and game by both teams. Its is even more impressive that it was early in the year. Daniel Thomson was throwing very hard for us and they kept hitting good pitches. Once he settled down he did a tremendous job of keeping us in the game." "We certainly had some hard luck through most of the game on offense since we hit the ball very hard from the opening pitch and could have easily put twenty on the board if it wasn't for some outstanding defense by the D-Boys and some bad breaks as to location where we hit the ball. As a coach this game was a total positive after the way we played on Tuesday. (At Elyria)." MSI doesn't have much of a chance to rest as Thursday afternoon they host the Huntington Hounds in a double header at B-W beginning at 2:00. Chad Campbell (1-0, 1.00) and Steve Less (0-0, 0.00) get the starts before the team travels to Atlanta for an East Cobb weekend showdown on Friday night.
Tuesday, June 11th. Everyone has
heard of the age-old game called "Keep away". Someone takes a ball and keeps
throwing or handing it off to keep it away from one other person. Well, on
Tuesday night at George Daniels Field in Elyria, Parma MSI invented the
inverted version of this childhood favorite called "Give away".
Unfortuantely, for them they have been practicing it since the season opener and have become very quick learners and perfected it to the tune of a 11-9 loss to Elyria. The defeat marks the first time in the seven game career series that MSI has come up short against Elyria. It also breaks the modest two-game win streak and drops their overall mark on the year to 5-3.
For the first time in four games, Parma failed to put any runs on the board in their first at-bat. The same couldn't be said of the homestanding Pioneers as they reached MSI starter Dan Victor for two in the first on back-to-back doubles by the first two hitters, a ground out, and a wild pitch. Victor also allowed an unearned run with two outs in the second when an error, double, and passed ball made the score 3-0 Elyria.
Parma finally got on the scoreboard in the third when, with two outs, Joe Fratarcangelo singled and then came home on back-to-back Elyria errors. MSI left two runners on base on their way to stranding nine including leaving the bases loaded twice. Elyria added three more runs to knock out Victor and built their lead to 6-1 after four.
A 14-minute rain delay seemed to bouy MSI though as they responded from the delay with offensive outburst to take the lead in the fifth against three Elyria starters. Scott Billak began the onslaught with a walk and a stolen base. Fratarcangelo singled him home and stole second himself. Matt Jackson then walked and so did Chad Campbell. Shane Darnofall then singled in one run and Kyle Moriarity walked to force in another to make the 6-4. Greg Svihlik then singled to center scoring Campbell and Darnofall to tie the score at 6. Scott Billak then doubled in Moriarity and Svihlik to give MSI their first lead at 8-6 and concluded the eight-run frame with Billak scoring on an errant pickoff throw for a 9-6 lead.
That's when Parma managed to display their "Give away" skills to perfection. Two walks by reliever Joe Fratarcangelo and three errors allowed Elyria to plate four runs without the benefit of a hit and give the home team a 10-9 lead they would never relinquish. They added a extra run in the sixth on a home run. Parma managed to mount a serious threat in the seventh by loading the bases, but Matt Jackson lined into a double play to end the game.
Fratarcangelo led the MSI attack with three hits and Billak and Svihlik each drove in a pair. MSI returns home on Wednesday to host the Diamond Boys at Baldwin-Wallace beginning at 6:15 for the first of three meetings between the two squads. Daniel Thomson (1-0, 2.33) will get the starting nod. Parma will also be at home on Thursday taking on the Huntington Hounds in a DH beginning at 2:00 p.m. Note the time change since it was originally scheduled for noon
Monday, June 10th. Once again
tremendous pitching and a potent offense propelled Parma MSI to a 10-1 victory
over the Boys of Summer on Monday evening at Baldwin-Wallace. The triumph runs
Parma's mark to 5-2 as they chalk up their second win versus the Boys in two
outings this season. They also beat them on opening night at Kent State to run
their overall record to 16-8 against the club from Summit
County.Right-hander John Herrera made his first start of the season a tough to follow up down the road as he limited the Boys to three hits and one unearned run in going the distance to knotch the win. Herrera struck out nine and didn't walk anyone. Ironically, the only tally for the Boys came on a strike-three passed ball which allowed the runner to reach first and later score on a base hit.
MSI came out of the gate strong again scoring multiple first-inning runs for the third consecutive game. Scott Billak led off the game winning a triple to rightcenter and scored on a wild pitch before the dust had settled for a 1-0 lead they would never relenquish. Parma wasn't done though against Boys' southpaw Goodson. Drew Saylor singled, Dave Waters was safe on an infield error and both scored when Matt Jackson doubled and then he scored when Goodson threw the ball away trying to catch Jackson advancing.
After the Boys scored to make it 5-1, MSI went back to work in the fourth. Billak stroked his first homer of the year and it was an inside-the-park variety to dead center (the deepest part of the park). Billak motored around the bases and beat the relay throw to the plate to make it 6-1. Waters was then safe on an error and then scored on a double by Jackson. The MSI catcher collected three RBI on the game and now has eight on the year for second on the club.
In the fifth inning, Kyle Moriarity and Dan Victor both walked with one out and later scored on a wild pitch and passed ball respectively for a 8-1 cushion. Then a pair of runs also crossed the dish in the sixth on a Chad Campbell double, Shane Darnofall single, and Joe Fratarcangelo single to complete the ten run onslaught. Billak, Jackson, and Campbell led the charge with two hits each. Jackson also had three RBI as MSI won their second game in a row.
Tuesday MSI heads west to take on Elyria beginning at 6:00 at Elyria High School. MSI owns a 6-0 career mark against Elyria despite being rained out both times last season. This will mark the first of two meetings this season with Elyria. Dan Victor makes his initial start of the campaign on the mound. Parma then returns home on Wednesday to meet the Diamond Boys at B-W and then will have a DH on Thursday with the Huntington Hounds. The starting time for Thursday has been changed from noon to 2:00 p.m. to accomodate travelling plans for the Hounds.
Sunday, June 9th. A severely
short-handed Parma MSI squad spent the second day in a row kissing their sister
and split a doubleheader with the Boys 17s at Springfield High Sunday dropping
the first contest 7-5 and registering a 17-7 win in the nightcap. The split
raises their record to 4-2 as they head into the second full week of
competition. The afternoon began in strong fashion as Parma tried to rebound from yesterday's less-than-stellar performance. MSI jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning as they played long ball against Boys' southpaw Reynolds. John Herrera went deep to left to put Parma on the board with his first homer of the year. Tim Begley followed by stroking a double and Matt Jackson followed with his first roundtripper of the summer. The offense continued to flourish in the third as Herrera led off with a single, moved up on two ground outs and scored on a double by Chad Campbell. Campbell then touched the plate when Shane Darnofall singled him home.
Staked to a 5-0 lead, Cameron Betourne was coasting through the Boys' order the first two innings and it appeared that the game would be well in hand. Well it didn't finish the way it started for the Floridian lefty. He yielded runs in each of the next four innings and really struggled with his control. Betourne finally relinquished the lead in the bottom of the sixth when he was all over the place with his control and the MSI defense followed suit by botching up three straight plays for the second consecutive game.
"Our defense in key situations has just been embarassing the past two games," commented Pelka. "I realize we are playing some people out of position early in the year due to alot of reasons, but we have got to make simple routine catches and throws. It truthfully cost us the first game Sunday."
MSI hitters were led in the opener by Herrera, Jackson and Campbell with two hits each. Jackson also had two RBI.
Game two of the afternoon started out identically as the first game when Parma jumped out to a two-run lead in the first on a Begley single and John Herrera's second homer of the day and year. MSI starter Joe Fratarcangelo coasted through the first frame and looked very impressive until he strained a back muscle while warming up in the second. The Garfield Hts. righthander never made it out of the second and yielded four unearned runs and the MSI defense again went south with two more errors in the frame. David Welch (Tuesday's scheduled starter) came on in relief and pitching masterfully in enducing a double play grounder to end the second on his second ptch of the game. Welch tossed the final 5.2 for his second win against no losses.
"David really picked us up when we needed it," Pelka commented. "If it wasn't for him, the day might have been a total disaster. He truly stepped up and seized control of the game. Once our offense got going then we were able to dominate."
On the offensive side of the game, the runs and hits were plentiful. Down 4-2 in the third the sticks came alive. Matt Jackson hit an opposite field home run to slice the deficit in half at 4-3. In the top of the fourth, Daniel Thomson walked, Greg Svihlik was safe on an error, Cam Betourne then collected his first hit and RBI of the season by singling to left to score Thomson. Dave Welch then singled to load the bases. Tim Begley then followed with a hard hit ball that was booted in the infield which ultimately scored Svihlik and Betourne. Chad Campbell then finished the scoring with a sacrifice fly and MSI regained the lead at 7-4. Another Parma error plated another Boys' run in the home half of the fourth and it was 7-5. The bats went to work again in the fifth for MSI when Darnofall singled, Thomson and Svihilk walked and Betourne came through again with a solid smash to left to score Darnofall. Begley then duplicated his feat of Saturday when he stepped to the plate and hit a drive that cleared the wall in right for his second grand slam in as many days against the Boys. That was also Begley second homer of the year and he now has a team-leading 13 RBI.
Even though a game Boys' squad kept pecking away with a solo run in the fifth and a couple in the seventh the issue was basically decided when Parma kept right on scoring in the final two frames. Two walks, a couple of wild pitches and an infield bouncer by Welch made the score 14-6. Then they completed the scoring in the seventh on a walk, a Darnofall double, an infield bounce out by Thomson to score the first run, another walk, and back to back RBI contacts by Betourne (a single) and antoher Welch ground out.
The win breaks a brief two-game MSI losing streak and sends their record to 4-2 heading into Monday's game. They now lead the season series against Boys 17s 2-1 with one game remaining in the opening contest of the Kent State Tourney on June 27th. Monday it's the Boys of Summer for the second time this season. MSI won the first contest on opening night and lead the career mark 15-8. John Herrera will make his initial start of the season tonight at Baldwin-Wallace at 6:15.
Saturday, June 8th. Two more fabulous pitching performances resulted in a split in the home opener on Saturday at Baldwin-Wallace. Chad Campbell twirlled a gem in befuddling the Boys 17s bats in the opener and came away with an 9-2 win to keep MSI perfect at 3-0. The Carlsbad, New Mexico native scattered four hits and surrendered a lone earned run in winning his first outing of the season. Campbell walked two and struck out six in going the distance for the first MSI complete game this season.
Offensively, MSI fought their way to a 3-2 lead after five frames against Yergin who pitched extremely well until he ran out of gas in the sixth. First-inning RBIs by Dave Waters and Matt Jackson and another Jackson clutch hit in the third inning plated the three Parma runs. For the second time in three games it took a big inning late in the contest to blow this one wide open. Six Parma tallies in the home half of the sixth decided the issue. With one out, Jackson tripled to rightcenter and scored on Shane Darnofall's sac fly. John Herrera singled and so did Daniel Thomson and Joe Fratarcangelo (RBI scored Herrera). Scott Billak then coaxed a walk to load the bases and Tim Begley drove them all in with a grand slam to dead center to complete the scoring. It was Begley's first round tripper of the season and his first MSI grand slam since Dave Waters did it in early June of last season against the Lake Erie Admirals in an amazing comeback at Tri-C West. Hitting stars were Jackson with three safeties and two RBIs and Begley with a double and that home run and four RBIs. The nine Parma hits fell one short of giving MSI three straight games of double digit hits to open the season.
Unfortunately of the homestanding club, the gem in game two of the day came from Fielder's Choice's John Beeler who scattered five hits in shutting out Parma for the first time this season and only the sixth time since the franchise began in 1981. Beeler was hit hard, but dodged a few MSI threats to post the whitewash and even the season series at one game apiece with one more to play at B-W on June 19. Parma now leads the career series 4-2.
"I really have no complaints about our offense against Beeler since there are days you hit people hard and don't get a lot to show for it. The key is that we were not able to advance runners early in the game and take over control of the contest," stated Coach Pelka. "The real problem with the loss was our horrendous defense. Seven physical errors and a lot more mental ones which gave us no chance. McKinnon didn't pitch his best, but he certainly deserved a better fate then what he got," said Pelka.
Tim Begley continued his torrid afternoon with two additional hits. Joe Fratarcangelo, Chad Campbell and Matt Jackson also had base hits.
Parma MSI returns to action Sunday afternoon when they travel to Springfield High School outside of Akron to battle the Boys 17s in a DH beginning at 1:00 p.m. Cameron Betourne and Joe Fratarcangelo get the nod in games one and two respectively.
Pelka approaches Sunday this way, "This DH will tell us a lot about the heart and mental attitude of our team since we are going into the contests severly handicapped offensively due to graduation ceremonies for numerous players (Saylor, Waters and Billak)and the fact that we have two players in state championship contests in Columbus (Less and Victor). The bright side is that it gives some other guys a chance to make an impression to the coaches and show what they can do in feature roles."
Friday, June 7th. Pitching was once
again the name of the game on Friday night as Parma MSI received their second
consecutive superlative outing in downing Fielder's Choice, 7-2, at Brecksville
High School. This was the first of three scheduled outings between the clubs in two days. That has now been modified with a change in Saturday's home opening doubleheader at Berea. MSI will take on the Boys 17s in the opening game at 1:00 at Baldwin-Wallce and then the rematch of Parma and Fielder's Choice will start at approximately 4:00 p.m. MSI is taking on the Boys 17s for the first ever meeting and is the first of four this season.
Parma leads the season series against Fielder's Choice, 4 to 1, following Friday's triumph. MSI is now 2-0 on the season and Fielder's Choice falls to 1-5.
Daniel Thomson made his first start of the year count in a big way by conquering a rusty first inning to stymie Fielder's Choice on only two hits for the first six innings to post his initial triumph of the season. After hitting Ribar to begin the game, Thomson yielded a two-run homer to CF Trumaine Riley to knot the game at 2-2 after one inning. Thomson then permitted only a fourth inning single to Kelly the rest of the way. Cameron Betourne made an appearace to toss a perfect seventh and garner his first save of the season.
Offensively, as on Tuesday, the stars were aplenty as seven MSI players collected safeties. Scott Billak and Tim Begley opened with back to back hits and perfect hit-and-run to give MSI the early lead at 1-0. Begley then later scored on an infield ground out by Dave Waters for a 2-0 lead in the first. After Fielder's Choice knotted it at two after one, Shane Darnofall got his first hit of the season in his initial at-bat and rode home on Chad Campbell's gargantuan home run to left (his first of season) to make it 4-2.
It stayed that way until the fourth inning when Matt Jackson legged out an infield hit, moved up on Campbell's single to left and then scored on a sacrfice fly by Greg Svihlik. A two-out double by Drew Saylor and a wringing single by Waters made it 6-2 in the fifth and then the last tally scored on back-to-back hits by Billak and Begley with a stolen base sandwiched in the middle. Billak, Begley, Darnofall, and Campbell each had two hits apiece in the winning cause. Campbell will put the bat in the rack on Saturday when he gets the starting nod in game one vs. Boys 17s and then Matt McKinnon will lock horns with Fielder's Choice in the nightcap at approximately 4:00 p.m.
Thursday, June 6th.Parma MSI may be
undefeated in the infancy of the 2002 campaign, but they could not beat Mother
Nature and the storms that rolled through eastern Ohio. The game on Thursday
night in Youngstown against Becdir Construction was postponed when the field
received over 2 inches of rain in a 24-hour period. No make-up date has yet to
be announced. MSI will conclude this season-opening road trip by venturing to
Brecksville to tangle with Fielder's Choice Friday night at 6:15 in the first
of four meetings between these two clubs this summer. Daniel Thomson will get
the starting nod on the hill for Parma. MSI leads the career series mark 3-1.
Parma stands at 1-0 in 2002 while Fielder's Choice looks for their first win of
the season against four losses.
Tuesday, June 4th.Parma MSI began its 2002
campaign in a big way as they scored eight times in the fifth inning to break
open a close contest and rout the Boys of Summer 11-2 at Kent State University
on Tuesday night. Parma now leads the career series 16-8 and have at least two
other regualr season matchups in a rivalry that resumes in Berea on Monday
night at 6:15. Parma head coach Gregg Pelka stated, "It was very nice to get a solid win under on belt on opening night against a quality club the Boys. Our rivalry with them is always a titanic struggle, but even sweeter to collect when its on opening night." Pelka went on to comment, "Things looked pretty bleak in the first inning, but Dave (Welch) settled down and pitched tremendously well after the first inning nerves. We also got some big hits from a lot of different sources. I am extremely excited about our team this season." After going quietly in the top of the first, MSI saw the Boys capitalize on two fielding miscues and a 41-pitch frame by starter and eventual winner Dave Welch for a 2-0 lead. Welch settled down following the frame calming his first inning jitters to dominate opposing hitters and allow only one more hit for the next five innings. Welch finished with two unearned tallies and three hits against him in his initial performance in the United States. The Australian native walked three and struck out six. Matt McKinnon came on in the seventh to retire the side in order chalking up one strikeout.
While Welch was turning away the Boys of Summer bats, Parma sticks went to work in the second inning. Dave Waters began with a single, moved up on a ground ball out and a wild pitch and later scored on a bouncer to third by Tim Begley. That run cut the Boys lead in half and started the run parade. Parma took the lead for good in the top of third inning when DH Daniel Thomson walked, advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw and third on a passed ball, and scored on Scott Billak's single to left. Billak moved up on a Joe Fratarcangelo single and another errant pickoff toss and scored on Drew Saylor's grounder to short. That gave MSI a lead they would never relenquish, 3-2. The fifth inning decided the contest when Parma sent eleven hitters to the plate scoring eight runs off Boys' reliever, Gagat. Back to back singles by Greg Svihlik and Billak opened the frame. After an infield force split the runners at the corners, Saylor singled one home. Another infielder grounder duplicated the situation now with two outs and the fun really began. Matt Jackson walked to load the bases and Tim Begley collected his second RBI of the night when he was hit with a 2-0 pitch scoring Saylor. Chad Campbel knocked two more with a single and then consecutive RBI singles by Thomson and Svihlik made the score 10-2. Dave Waters concluded the evening of runs by lofting a majestic homer to right (his first of the year) in the seventh inning for his second hit. The MSI clean-up hitter was joined in the double-hit column by Billak, Fratarcangelo, and Svihlik. Eight of the Parma batters had at least one hit and all but one of the starting nine knocked in a run as well.
Parma MSI has their only scheduled off day of the month on Wednesday and return to action on Thursday when they travel to the Youngstown area for the first time since 1996 when they take on Becdir Construction for the first meeting ever between the two clubs at Roosevelt Park in Campbell. Game time is 5:30 and will be a 9-inning contest with Daniel Thomson getting the starting nod. The road trip concludes on Friday at Brecksville High for the first of three games in two days against Fielder's Choice. The two teams got at it again on Saturday afternoon in MSI's home opener (a DH) at B-W beginning at 1:00.